Diana Greene Foster, PhD is the Director of Research at UCSF’s Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH) program. Dr. Foster specializes in using quantitative models and analyses to evaluate family planning policies and their effects on women’s lives, with a particular focus on unintended pregnancies and abortion access.

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Speaker

Diana Greene Foster, PhD is a demographer and professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco. She is also the Director of Research at UCSF’s Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH) program. Dr. Foster specializes in using quantitative models and analyses to evaluate family planning policies and their effects on women’s lives, with a particular focus on unintended pregnancies and abortion access.

Foster is best known for leading the Turnaway Study, a groundbreaking longitudinal investigation that followed nearly 1,000 women over five years to assess the physical, mental, and socioeconomic impacts of receiving or being denied an abortion. The study has produced over 50 peer-reviewed publications and her critically acclaimed 2020 book, The Turnaway Study: Ten Years, a Thousand Women, and the Consequences of Having—or Being Denied—an Abortion. The findings have provided invaluable insights into how abortion access influences women’s health, financial stability, and overall well-being.

Foster’s work extends globally through the Global Turnaway Study, which examines abortion denial in countries like Bangladesh, Colombia, Nepal, South Africa, and Tunisia. Her research also explores innovative approaches to contraception access and effectiveness, including studies on IUD self-removability and the impact of dispensing a one-year supply of contraceptives.

A graduate of the University of California, Berkeley (BS) and Princeton University (MA and PhD in Demography and Public Policy), Dr. Foster has received numerous accolades for her contributions to reproductive health research. These include the Harriet B. Presser Award for her work on gender and demography and recognition as one of Nature’s Top 10 Most Influential Scientists in 2022. In 2023, she was awarded a prestigious MacArthur Fellowship, often referred to as the “genius grant,” for her pioneering research.

Foster continues to shape public policy discussions with rigorous evidence on reproductive healthcare practices, access, and outcomes, making her one of the leading voices in reproductive health research today.