Alison Norris, MD, PhD

Chair and Professor
Epidemiology

Email
norris.570@osu.edu
Phone
614-688-3219
Office
326 Cunz Hall, 1841 Neil Ave., Columbus, OH 43210
Links
Alison Norris

Biography

Dr. Alison Norris is an epidemiologist and a medical doctor who studies sexual and reproductive health with a goal to support reproductive autonomy, excellent reproductive health outcomes and prevention of sexually transmitted infections. She has a particular interest in understanding how policy, endemic disease, social norms, demographic factors, and cultural and institutional structures influence health and disease.

Dr. Norris has been with Ohio State since 2011 and currently chairs the Division of Epidemiology and holds courtesy appointments in the Division of Infectious Diseases and the Department of Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies. As faculty, her goal is to develop, conduct and evaluate epidemiologic and social science research to improve sexual and reproductive health.

To understand how laws and policies impact access to abortion and contraception, she co-leads a collaborative research program called OPEN (Ohio Policy Evaluation Network). With scholars from across Ohio and neighboring states, OPEN produces evidence for health care providers, community stakeholders and lawmakers.

Dr. Norris also co-leads the research steering committee for #WeCount, a national effort housed at the Society of Family Planning. #WeCount measures the impact of the significant changes in abortion care following the 2022 Dobbs v Jackson’s Women’s Health Organization U.S. Supreme Court decision.

Much of her research has been conducted in eastern and southern Africa. Partnering with an interdisciplinary team of scientists and health practitioners at Ohio State and in Malawi, Dr. Norris initiated a research program called Umoyo wa Thanzi (UTHA, Health for Life). The project aims to illuminate how women’s and men’s decision making impacts fertility, family planning, pregnancy, childbirth, and testing and treatment for infectious diseases. With funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and multiple Ohio State grants, the project has carried out five waves of a longitudinal study of more than 1,000 women and their partners.

Education

Postdoctoral Fellowship in Reproductive Health
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 2008-2011
M.D.
Yale University School of Medicine, 2008
Ph.D.
Yale University School of Epidemiology and Public Health, 2006
B.A.
Department of Biology, Yale University, 1994

Research interests

sexual and reproductive health with a goal of preventing sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and improving reproductive outcomes for women and men

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