Division of Reproductive and Population Health

The Division of Reproductive and Population Health (“Pop Health”), founded 2017, is committed to improving reproductive health, wellbeing, and equity through high-quality social science research and evidence-based programs. Our work recognizes that health is influenced not just by individual-level factors or healthcare service delivery, but also by the social and socioeconomic contexts in which people live. Reproductive health inequities overwhelmingly stem from these latter sociocultural factors. 

To address those inequities, members of this division conduct rigorous research, provide leadership to several public health initiatives, partner with diverse stakeholders, and endeavor to translate research into policy and practice through dissemination and implementation. Topic areas include birth equity, contraception, pregnancy and family planning, and abortion, among others. The division is also home to the Collaborative for Reproductive Equity (CORE), an initiative that supports and translates policy-relevant research on reproductive health, equity, and autonomy in Wisconsin and beyond, and the Reproduction Equity Action Lab, which conducts rigorous and cutting-edge research that identifies key structural inequities that stand in the way of reproductive autonomy across the lifespan. 

Wendland receives 2026 Guggenheim Fellowship

Huge congratulations to Claire Wendland, MD, PhD, professor in the Division of Reproductive and Population Health and the UW–Madison Department of Anthropology! Wendland was selected as a Class of 2026 Guggenheim Fellow, as awarded by the Board of Trustees of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. She receives the awa... more

Adekunle authors new publication in Health Equity

Tiwaladeoluwa Adekunle, PhD, assistant professor in the Division of Reproductive and Population Health, recently co-authored a study published in Health Equity. Co-authors include Megan E. Martin; Carol Haywood, PhD; Kate Caldwell, PhD; Clancy Barry; ShaRhonda Dawson, MS; and Kara Hoppe, DO, PhD.In “Obstetric Racism and Ablei... more

CORE and REAL researchers contribute chapters to When Roe Fell

Researchers and staff from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology contributed chapters to a new book published by Rutgers Press in late 2025 that explores the consequences of overturning Roe v. Wade.When Roe Fell includes scholarship about how the Dobbs decision impacted who could access abortion care, how physicians nav... more

Green and REAL researchers co-author article in Social Science and Medicine

Tiffany Green, PhD, associate professor in the Departments of Population Health Sciences and Ob-Gyn, recently co-authored an article published in Social Science and Medicine with fellow researchers in the Reproductive Equity Action Lab (REAL). Co-authors include Lindsay Cannon; Meaghan Bethea; and Laura Swan, PhD, LCSW. In “‘... more

ASOG Family Planning, CORE faculty publish article in SSM-Health Systems

Researchers from the UW Department of Ob-Gyn Division of Academic Specialists in Ob-Gyn and the UW Collaborative for Reproductive Equity (CORE) recently published an article in SSM – Health Systems. Authors include Laura Jacques, MD; Jenny Higgins, PhD, MPH; Corinne Hale; Eliza Bennett, MD; and Abigail Cutler, MD, MPH.In “How... more
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