Laura Lindberg
Professor, School of Public Health
Rutgers University
As a social demographer, Laura Lindberg's research career has focused on measuring trends, determinants, and consequences of sexual and reproductive health of the US population. After completing nearly two decades as a Research Scientist at the Guttmacher Institute, she is now a Professor of Global-Urban Health at Rutgers School of Public Health, directing a new concentration in sexual and reproductive health and equity. She has been Principal Investigator (PI) or Co-I on nine NIH grants and numerous other research grants related to sexual and reproductive health. Laura's research spans a range of sexual and reproductive health topics. She has conducted influential policy-related research with work investigating contraception, abortion, and sex education as well as the role of public policy in influencing access to services, health behaviors, and outcomes. She has an extensive record of research on adolescent SRH, including their access and use of contraceptive services, their attitudes, knowledge, and perception of norms around contraceptive use, and their sexual behaviors. Currently, she is engaged in multiple research projects examining young people’s receipt of information about contraception and abortion, including from social media. She intentionally designs her work to contribute to a multidisciplinary and impactful knowledge base to support evidence-informed public health policy that promotes equity in access and outcomes. Laura has authored or co-authored more than 100 peer-reviewed articles, monographs, reports, and book chapters. She has been invited multiple times in the past few years to present my research to federal staff at HHS and NIH as they seek to improve relevant federal data systems. Further reflecting my expertise in sexual and reproductive health, she has served on advisory committees for the National Center for Health Statistics, the Office of Population Affairs, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the Coalition to Expand Contraceptive Access (CECA), and the Society of Adolescent Health and Medicine. Currently she serves as a technical research advisor to support improved data collection around contraceptive service availability and utilization for the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) and the New Jersey Pregnancy Risk Monitory System (PRAMS) and serve on the Research Advisory Board for Power to Decide