Chelsea Polis joined the Guttmacher Institute as Principal Research Scientist in May 2025. Her portfolio includes work on contraception, abortion, “FemTech” and other fertility awareness-based technologies, infertility, sexually transmitted infections including HIV, and other sexual and reproductive health topics. Trained in epidemiological methods, she has designed and implemented randomized clinical trials, conducted nationally representative studies, analyzed complex observational data, and performed numerous systematic reviews and meta-analyses. In 2023, she was awarded a John Maddox Prize by Sense about Science and Nature—an award recognizing individuals who advance sound science in the public interest despite facing hostility or adversity.
Dr. Polis holds a PhD in reproductive health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and a BA in medical anthropology from Brown University. Previous roles include Senior Scientist for Epidemiology at the Population Council’s Center for Biomedical Research, Principal Research Scientist and Senior Research Scientist at the Guttmacher Institute, and Senior Epidemiological Advisor to the Office of Population and Reproductive Health at USAID. Since 2011, she has held an Associate appointment in the Department of Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
