Shreya Nagendra (she/her) is a final-year doctoral candidate pursuing a Behavioral Science and Health Education degree at Saint Louis University, St. Louis (Missouri). She has a Master’s in Public Health and a strong background in quantitative and qualitative research methods.
Shreya’s passion for sexual and reproductive health research was ignited during her internship and Clinical Research Coordinator role at Planned Parenthood’s St. Louis Affiliate. She has also worked as an Adjunct Instructor at SLU, teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in applied biostatistics, R programming, and contemporary issues in global health.
As a first-generation graduate student from India, Shreya is committed to establishing equitable, comprehensive family planning services for all and minimizing structural barriers to healthcare among vulnerable minority individuals.
The Emerging Scholars grant will support Shreya’s dissertation research to comprehensively understand contraceptive use patterns and barriers to family planning services among reproductive-aged (18-49 years) women who use substances. Specifically, her proposed study will leverage nationally-representative secondary data from the 2011-2019 National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) and community-based primary data from women in treatment for substance use disorders (SUD) in St. Louis. Her work will inform strategies and efforts to reduce unintended pregnancies and improve overall reproductive health outcomes for women with SUD.