The CRSHE supports reproductive health and science research at the intersection between science and society. The types of research we support include ethnography studies and interviews in a variety of care settings to understand people’s perceptions of reproductive care over their life course. We also support research focused on understanding reproductive health communication through a variety of contexts including social media, education and parent-child interactions. We also support research into public health policies that shape reproductive care and access.
Maternal Health and Pregnancy
Hannah Landecker PhD is a sociologist and historian of the life sciences whose work explores how biological science and biotechnology are socially and historically embedded. She investigates how human bodies, environments, and industry are co-produced in the age of medicine. Website: https://socgen.ucla.edu/people/hannah-landecker/
- Ariel Hart (2024) investigated the care practices of Black midwives and the social, political, and medical context of out-of-hospital birth in Los Angeles. Through extensive ethnographic fieldwork, interviews, and policy observations her work highlights the promise and challenges of Black-led birth centers and midwifery care as pathways to autonomy, safety, and equity for Black birthing people in the US.
Stefan Timmermans PhD is a sociologist who uses ethnographic and historical methods to examine how professional practices, diagnostic technologies, and health-system imperatives shape patients’ experiences and contribute to sociological inequalities in health and illness.Website: https://www.stefantimmermans.com/
- Charlotte Abel (2023) performed ethnographic observations and interviews in a reproductive psychiatry clinic that treats pregnant and postpartum people. Her work sheds light on the intersection between mental health care, pregnancy and fetal health.
Reproductive Health
Martie Haselton PhD is a psychologist whose research explores how hormones, fertility, and reproductive cycles influence human behavior, mating strategies, social perception and intimate relationships. Website: https://www.martiehaselton.com
- Sisi Peng (2023; 2024) examined the psychological foundations of menstrual stigma, focusing on how feelings of disgust contribute to negative attitudes toward menstruation and women’s bodies. Her work informs interventions and health communication strategies to promote women’s reproductive and sexual wellbeing.
Chris Dunkel Schetter PhD is a psychologist who investigates how prenatal maternal stress- encompassing environmental stressors, perceived stress, anxiety, social support, and related biopsychosocial factors – influences pregnancy outcomes such as preterm birth low birth weight, and postpartum depression, working with diverse populations and interdisciplinary teams to understand underlying biological and psychological mechanisms. Website: https://cds.psych.ucla.edu/
- Joni Brown (2023) investigated how parental sexual socialization – the messages and teachings parents give about sex, contraception, and pregnancy – shape sexual and reproductive health outcomes among Black women and adolescent girls. Her work addresses critical gaps in understanding the sociocultural and intergenerational factors that support Black women’s reproductive autonomy and wellbeing.
Jessica Gipson PhD is a public health expertexploring how sociocultural, gender, and couple-dynamics influence fertility preferences, unintended pregnancy, family planning and abortion. Using mixed-methods approaches, she examines how individuals and couples negotiate reproductive decisions within their contexts and how mis-alignments between desires and outcomes shape health and demographic trajectories.Website: https://ph.ucla.edu/about/faculty-staff-directory/jessica-gipson
Tenzin Khando (2025) investigated reproductive rights and decision-making among Asian immigrant women in the U.S., focusing on how structural, sociocultural, and legal factors intersect to shape abortion attitudes and access to reproductive care. Tenzin’s work aims to inform equitable and culturally competent reproductive health policies in the post-Dobbs era.