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Katie Woodruff, DrPH

Public Health Social Scientist

Katie Woodruff, DrPH, is a Social Science Fellow in Reproductive and Maternal Health at ANSIRH. Her research explores the intersection of public discourse and public policy related to maternal and reproductive health in the U.S. She conducts qualitative and mixed methods studies on abortion and contraception, alcohol and drug use in pregnancy, and the role of evidence in health policymaking, with a particular focus on how policymakers understand these issues and what factors influence their views. She aims to conduct research to inform and improve the policies that shape and limit reproductive, maternal, and familial health and wellbeing.  

Dr. Woodruff’s previous work includes an original qualitative exploration of how legislators in selected U.S. states use scientific evidence when making policy decisions on reproductive and maternal health, including laws responding to substance use in pregnancy and laws to regulate abortion. She has also studied how the news media frame reproductive health issues, conducting ethnographic content analyses of news coverage of abortion and emergency contraception, among other public health topics. Currently at ANSIRH she is studying how women make decisions about marijuana use during pregnancy, and investigating how state health departments use evidence when setting and implementing abortion facility regulations. Dr. Woodruff received her BA from Brown University and her MPH and DrPH from the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health.

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