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Good reproductive health policy starts with credible research

 

Donate Now

Connect With Us

  • Facebook
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Highlights

  • COVID-19 impact
  • Reproductive Health Impact Study
  • IPSRH: Focus on Abortion
  • Adding It Up
  • Guttmacher-Lancet Commission
  • U.S. policy resources
  • State policy resources
  • State legislation tracker

Reports

  • Global
  • U.S.

Articles

  • Global research
  • U.S. research
  • Policy analysis
  • Guttmacher Policy Review
  • Op-eds & external blogs

Fact Sheets

  • Global
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  • U.S. State Laws and Policies

Data & Visualizations

  • Data center
  • Infographics

Peer-Reviewed Journals

  • International Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health
  • Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health

Global

  • Abortion
  • Contraception
  • HIV & STIs
  • Pregnancy
  • Teens

U.S.

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  • Contraception
  • HIV & STIs
  • Pregnancy
  • Teens

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All Staff

Chelsea Polis

Principal Research Scientist
PDF icon Curriculum Vitae

Chelsea Polis joined the Guttmacher Institute as a Senior Research Scientist in 2014 and became a Principal Research Scientist in 2020. Trained in epidemiological methods, Dr. Polis has designed and implemented randomized clinical trials, analyzed observational data, and conducted several systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Her portfolio includes work on contraceptive safety, effectiveness, and choice, as well as on abortion, multipurpose prevention technologies, measurement of infertility, and other subjects in sexual and reproductive health. She has collaborated with scientists from around the world, including projects based in Ghana, Malawi, Uganda, Zimbabwe, and elsewhere.

Dr. Polis earned a BA in medical anthropology from Brown University and completed her PhD and postdoctoral fellowship at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where she focused on reproductive health epidemiology. In 2008, she was awarded the Gary Stewart Scholarship for Research in Public Health, and in 2016, was selected as an Amazing Alumni by the Department of Population, Family, and Reproductive Health at Johns Hopkins. Prior to joining the Guttmacher Institute, she served as Senior Epidemiological Advisor to the Office of Population and Reproductive Health at the United States Agency for International Development. Her collaborations with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention contributed to updating global contraceptive guidance in the WHO’s Medical Eligibility Criteria for Contraceptive Use. Dr. Polis serves on the Editorial Advisory Committee for International Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, and on the Editorial Board for Contraception. Since 2011, she has held an Associate appointment in the Department of Epidemiology at Johns Hopkins.

Selected Publications For a full list of publications by Chelsea Polis, download CV.

  • May 2020 Research Article

    Perceived Infertility Among Young Adults in Balaka, Malawi

    International Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health
  • April 2020 Research Article

    Estimating the incidence of abortion: using the Abortion Incidence Complications Methodology in Ghana, 2017

    BMJ Global Health

    Global

    • Abortion
  • April 2020 Research Article

    Estimating the incidence of abortion: a comparison of five approaches in Ghana

    BMJ Global Health

    Global

    • Abortion
  • July 2019 Research Article

    Fertility awareness based methods for pregnancy prevention

    BMJ

    Global

    • Contraception
  • February 2019 Research Article

    Global Contraceptive Failure Rates: Who Is Most at Risk?

    Studies in Family Planning
  • December 2018 Research Article

    Pharmacokinetic, biologic and epidemiologic differences in MPA- and NET-based progestin-only injectable contraceptives relative to the potential impact on HIV acquisition in women

    Contraception
  • October 2018 Research Article

    Severity and Management of Postabortion Complications Among Women in Zimbabwe, 2016: A Cross-Sectional Study

    BMJ Open

    Global

    • Abortion
  • August 2018 Research Article

    Effectiveness of Fertility Awareness–Based Methods for Pregnancy Prevention: A Systematic Review

    Obstetrics & Gynecology

    Global

    • Contraception
  • July 2018 Research Article

    There Might Be Blood: A Scoping Review on Women’s Responses to Contraceptive-Induced Menstrual Bleeding Changes

    Reproductive Health

    Global

    • Contraception
  • April 2018 Research Article

    Multiple contraceptive method use and prevalence of fertility awareness based method use in the United States, 2013–2015

    Contraception

    United States

    • Contraception
  • June 2017 Research Article

    Hormonal contraceptive methods and HIV: research gaps and programmatic priorities

    Contraception

    Global

    • HIV & STIs
  • April 2017 Research Article

    Incidence of Induced Abortion in Malawi, 2015

    PLOS ONE

    Global

    • Abortion
  • October 2016 Blog / Letter / Op-ed

    Levonorgestrel in contraceptives and multipurpose prevention technologies: does this progestin increase HIV risk or interact with antiretrovirals?

    AIDS

    Global

    • Contraception
    • HIV & STIs
  • August 2016 Research Article

    An updated systematic review of epidemiological evidence on hormonal contraceptive methods and HIV acquisition in women

    AIDS

    Global

    • Contraception
    • HIV & STIs
  • March 2016 Report

    Contraceptive Failure Rates in the Developing World: An Analysis of Demographic and Health Survey Data in 43 Countries

    Global

    • Abortion
    • Contraception
    • Pregnancy
  • March 2016 Research Article

    Typical use contraceptive failure rates in 43 countries with demographic and health Survey data: summary of a detailed report

    Contraception

    Global

    • Contraception
  • September 2015 Report

    Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Indicators for the SDGs

    Global

    • Abortion
    • Contraception
    • HIV & STIs
    • Pregnancy
    • Teens
  • December 2014 Blog / Letter / Op-ed

    Can Women Living with HIV and Taking Antiretroviral Therapy Use Hormonal Contraceptive Methods?

    K4Health

    Global

    • Contraception
    • HIV & STIs
  • December 2014 Research Article

    Contraceptive Methods and Risk of HIV Acquisition or Female-to-Male Transmission

    Current HIV/AIDS Reports
  • October 2014 Research Article

    Hormonal contraceptive methods and risk of HIV acquisition in women: a systematic review of epidemiological evidence

    Contraception
  • August 2014 Research Article

    Progestin-only contraception: Injectables and implants

    Best Practice & Research Clinical Obstetrics & Gynaecology
  • June 2014 Research Article

    Using Measurements of Unmet Need to Inform Program Investments for Health Service Integration

    Studies in Family Planning
  • May 2014 Research Article

    Preference for Sayana® Press versus intramuscular Depo-Provera among HIV-positive women in Rakai, Uganda: a randomized crossover trial

    Contraception
  • February 2013 Research Article

    Hormonal contraceptive use and female-to-male HIV transmission: a systematic review of the epidemiologic evidence.

    AIDS
  • January 2013 Research Article

    Modelling the global competing risks of a potential interaction between injectable hormonal contraception and HIV risk.

    AIDS
  • December 2012 Research Article

    Effect of injectable contraceptive use on response to antiretroviral therapy among women in Rakai, Uganda

    Contraception
  • February 2012 Research Article

    Missed Conceptions or Misconceptions: Perceived Infertility Among Unmarried Young Adults In the United States

    Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health
  • July 2011 Research Article

    Trends and correlates of hormonal contraceptive use among HIV-infected women in Rakai, Uganda, 1994-2006

    Contraception
  • February 2011 Research Article

    Effect of Hormonal Contraceptive Use Before HIV Seroconversion on Viral Load Setpoint Among Women in Rakai, Uganda

    JAIDS Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes

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