Abortion has long been a contentious political issue in the US. While larger societal and political factors increasingly impede abortion access, the political rhetoric on abortion primarily focuses on the “right to choose” and therefore on individual women, as the primary, autonomous decision-makers for abortion. Rather than conceptualizing choice as an individual process, my project ...Read more >

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) events pose a significant health risk for women who use combined oral contraceptives (COCs). COCs are composed of an estrogen (most commonly ethinyl estradiol) and a synthetic progestogen (progestin). The dose-dependent relationship between estrogen exposure and VTE risk is well studied, and is due to changes in hepatic globulins mediated by activity ...Read more >

Dr. Sealy-Jefferson is the Principal Investigator of the Social Epidemiology to Eliminate Disparities (SEED) Lab, whose mission is to conduct high quality epidemiologic research, framed by reproductive justice, to find solutions to the disproportionate burden of infant mortality among African Americans, with a focus on measuring and intervening upon systems of oppression. Her vision includes ...Read more >

Dr. Rafie is a Pharmacist Specialist and Assistant Clinical Professor at UC San Diego. She was one of the first pharmacists in California to be licensed as an Advanced Practice Pharmacist. Dr. Rafie’s research and advocacy efforts focus on advancing pharmacist practice, particularly in family planning. The Birth Control Pharmacist project was created to provide ...Read more >

Dr. Rice is a public health researcher passionate about advancing equity in family planning outcomes, care, and scholarship through community-centered production and translation of scientific evidence, and mentorship and inclusion of diverse trainees. Her research broadly examines the implications of social and systems-level factors (e.g., stigma and policy) for abortion and other sexual and reproductive ...Read more >

Dr. Odum is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Cincinnati, Blue Ash. Dr. Odum is studying the barrier of patient-physician mistrust in the reproductive lives of African American women seeking abortion care and contraceptive services. Significant gaps in the literature continue to exist related to understanding the barriers that African American women ...Read more >

Dr. Cassondra Marshall is an Assistant Professor in Residence in the Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health program at UC Berkeley School of Public Health. Prior to joining the faculty at UC Berkeley, Dr. Marshall was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research and received training in delivery science research. Dr. Marshall ...Read more >

Dr. Madera is the Senior Project Manager and Research Fellow for Project SANA (The Self-managed Abortion Needs Assessment Project), which examines self-managed abortion across the US. She is also a multimedia historian, and the founder and director of The Abortion Diary, a transnational, transmedia story-sharing project that elucidates people’s real experiences with abortion, and challenges ...Read more >

Dr. Luna is an Associate Professor of Sociology (and Feminist Studies by courtesy) at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her contributions to the field of family planning include writing key pieces in the burgeoning area of reproductive justice, which draws attention to rights to not have children (e.g., access to contraception, voluntary childlessness), rights ...Read more >

Dr. Littlejohn is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Oregon. Her current research explores the cultural and institutional factors that affect women’s contraceptive decision-making. She is working on a book titled Just Get on the Pill: Gender, Compulsory Birth Control, and Reproductive Injustice that uses interviews with women to ...Read more >