Abigail is the Principal Investigator at Project SANA and an Associate Professor at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. She combines backgrounds in medicine, public health, and public affairs, having completed her MD at the University of Cambridge, her MPH at Harvard University, and her PhD at the University of Texas at Austin.
Email: araa2@utexas.edu
Kathleen is a researcher at Project SANA. She is a PhD candidate in the Department of Sociology at the University of Texas at Austin. She uses mixed methods to explore the social determinants of reproductive health seeking behaviors. Her dissertation includes an analysis of people’s experiences seeking information, support, and resources for self-managed abortion near the U.S.-Mexico border. You can learn more about Kathleen and her work here.
Email: rkbroussard@prc.utexas.edu
Twitter: @rk_broussard
Melissa is a researcher (formerly the Senior Project Manager and Research Associate) on Project SANA. She works full-time as the Director of Research and Partnerships at Choix, a telehealth clinic founded by experienced family planning clinicians with a vision of using technology to expand access to abortion care. Prior to joining Choix and Project SANA, her own abortion experience as a teenager inspired her to create The Abortion Diary (in 2013), the only audio archive of abortion stories. An expert on abortion story-sharing and listening, she works to center the voices of people who have had abortions and end abortion stigma in all facets of her life. She is also a Society of Family Planning Changemakers in Family Planning Awardee and a board member of inroads (the International Network for the Reduction of Abortion Discrimination and Stigma). She also works as a special projects consultant at Plan C Pills. Originally from Washington Heights, New York, Dr. Madera is a queer, first generation Dominican-American who holds a BA in History from Baruch College (CUNY), an MST in Social Studies Education from Pace University, and a MA and a PhD in Latin American and Caribbean History from The State University of New York at Binghamton. You can learn more about Melissa and her work here and here.
Email: mmadera@utexas.edu
IG: @theabortiondiary
Twitter: @AbortionDiary & @drmelissamadera
Jennifer is a researcher at Project SANA. She recently completed her PhD at The University of Texas at Austin in the Department of Statistics and Data Sciences, working with professors James Scott, Jared Murray, Carlos Carvalho, and Abigail Aiken. Her research interests are in developing flexible Bayesian models for structured data, nonparametric regression, and causal inference, with applications to public health, obstetrics, and personalized medicine. Prior to joining UT Austin, she completed her MS in Statistics at Texas A&M University and her BS in Mathematics at Virginia Tech.
James is a Co-Investigator at Project SANA and is a Professor of Statistics in the Department of Statistics and Data Science at the University of Texas at Austin. His research interests are in statistical computation and Bayesian inference and his applied work includes a focus on reproductive health.
Dana is a PhD candidate in Public Policy and Demography and NICHD Pre-Doctoral fellow at the University of Texas. Formerly, she was a grassroots organizer for a reproductive rights organization. She grew up in Wisconsin, received her BA in Sociology and Social Work from the University of Minnesota, and got her Master’s in Public Affairs at the University of Texas.
Email: danajohnson@utexas.edu
Twitter: @DanaMartha_
Elisa is a researcher at Project SANA. She is currently pursuing a medical degree at Stanford School of Medicine. She holds a BS on Biochemistry and Pre-Medicine of The University of Texas at Austin where she studied and completed a certificate in Social Inequality, Public Health, and Policy with a concentration in Family and Fertility.
Email: elisa.padron@utexas.edu
Carol is a researcher at Project SANA. Her work lies at the intersections of race, gender, and political theory. It explores the interlocking experiences and political philosophies of Black women within right-wing, conservative politics. She is particularly interested in Black Republican women as framers of neoconservative political thought. Carol developed an interest in abortion by way of studying social determinants of health of Black expectant mothers in low income and underserved communities in Texas. She is a distinguished graduate of UT Austin and is currently a PhD Student at the Charles and Louise Travers Department of Political Science at UC Berkeley.
Email: carolzenoah@berkeley.edu
Aleta is a Co-Investigator at Project SANA and an Associate Professor of Public Health at California State University Sacramento. She combines backgrounds in gender studies and public health in her research on sexual and reproductive health. Dr. Baldwin earned her MPH and PhD at Indiana University.
Email: aleta.baldwin@csus.edu
Dylan is a graduate of the Plan II Honors Program at the University of Texas at Austin. His current work focuses on analyzing and visualizing big data to improve decision making in clinical healthcare delivery and public health policy.
Email: dylanmacalinao@gmail.com
Luisa Alejandra is the Junior Project Manager at Project SANA. She holds a BA in Economics from Universidad Santo Tomás and a MA in Global Policy Studies with a focus on data analysis from the University of Texas at Austin. Her policy interests are international development and monitoring & evaluation (M&E). She has implemented and evaluated policies in Latin America, North America, Europe, and Africa. Alejandra has worked for international organizations like the World Bank and UNCTAD.
Email: alejandratello@utexas.edu
Sruthi is a Research Assistant for Project SANA. She is a second-year undergraduate student at University of Texas at Austin. She is double majoring in Chemical Engineering and Plan II Honors.
Email: sruthiramaswamy@utexas.edu
