Reproductive Health

Investigating racism's impact on birth outcomes

Q&A with University of Michigan researcher Safyer McKenzie-Sampson on racism’s impact on reproductive health

Safyer McKenzie-Sampson is the John G. Searle Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Behavior & Health Equity at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. She focuses her research on the multi-level impacts of racial discrimination on adverse perinatal outcomes in Black communities. Her work uniquely examines these outcomes through the lens of maternal nativity, highlighting the experiences of Black immigrants

M-PACT Scholar brings youth-centered research home

Q&A with University of Michigan researcher Asari Offiong on adolescent health and community-based participatory research

Asari Offiong is an assistant professor in the Department of Health Behavior & Health Equity at Michigan Public Health, where she conducts community-based research. As an M-PACT Scholar, Her research centers on adolescent sexual and reproductive health, integrating reproductive justice and youth-centered perspectives to understand how young people navigate complex health decisions.

Kristi Gamarel wins NIH Award for Sexual & Gender Minority Research

Kristi Gamarel, associate chair and associate professor of Health Behavior & Health Equity, has been awarded the 2024 National Institutes of Health Sexual & Gender Minority Mid-Career Investigator Award. Her research addresses health inequities among LGBTQ+ communities in the context of HIV, mental health, substance use, and healthcare access.

Researchers uncover hidden risk of infant mortality linked to grandmothers' obesity

New research from Eduardo Villamor

A new study has found that a grandmother’s obesity significantly increases the risk of infant mortality in her grandchildren, suggesting the need to address obesity in women of childbearing age for future generational health.

Community-based collaborative to improve birth outcomes for Detroit Latinas

Collaborative to identify key barriers and facilitators to positive birth outcomes and create a strategic plan for change

Michigan Public Health researchers are leading a new community-based project aimed at improving maternal and child health for Latina women in Detroit.

One year after Dobbs decision, restrictive abortion laws part of a 'willful policy vacuum'

Q&A with Paula Lantz

As the one-year anniversary passes on the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade—and with it the constitutional right to an abortion—University of Michigan public policy professor Paula Lantz offers insights on the ramifications of that ruling and where things might be headed in the months ahead.