Amanda Bryson, MD, MPH
Dr. Amanda Bryson is an Assistant Professor in the UCSF Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine within the Department of Pediatrics who is dedicated to improving access to sexual and reproductive health care and information for adolescents and young adults. Her research explores adolescent and young adult perspectives of pregnancy and sexual pleasure, as well as examines the delivery of health services in an evolving reproductive health landscape. Dr. Bryson’s contributions to the field have been nationally recognized, including serving as the elected co-chair of the Adolescent Special Interest Group of the Society for Family Planning, being an invited member of Youth Reproductive Equity (a national interdisciplinary research collaborative), and contributing to a research investigation which received the Hilary E.C. Millar Award for Innovative Approaches to Adolescent Health Care from the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. As a BIRCWH Scholar, Dr. Bryson will examine adolescent and young adults’ receipt of contraceptive information from clinicians using a nationally representative survey. She will assess whether state-level reproductive health context influences adolescent and young adults’ ability to receive information about contraception from a clinician when they want it and compare the trust in information received from clinicians versus other sources (e.g., social media). Dr. Bryson will leverage this research on adolescent and young adults’ receipt of contraceptive information to inform the development and pilot of interventions to improve this populations’ access to medically accurate contraceptive information across reproductive health policy contexts.
Kendria Kelly-Taylor, PhD
Dr. Kendria Kelly-Taylor is an epidemiologist and Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Women’s and Children’s Health Section at Kaiser Permanente Northern California’s Division of Research. Her research focuses on advancing health equity by examining social and systemic factors that contribute to disparities in prenatal mental health, from diagnosis to treatment engagement, and identifying strengths-based factors that promote positive mental health, resilience, and well-being among pregnant and postpartum individuals. During her fellowship, Dr. Kelly-Taylor has leveraged electronic health record (EHR) data to examine racial, ethnic, and nativity-related disparities in prenatal depression. Her recent work includes exploring differences in clinical depression diagnosis and severity among racial and ethnic groups and assessing the association between residential segregation and prenatal depression risk. As a BIRCWH scholar, Dr. Kelly-Taylor will use predictive modeling techniques to derive EHR-based proxies that predict protective promoting factors (e.g., coping) and depression severity with the goal of translating these findings into an indicator that supports clinical care decisions. Additionally, she will explore patient perspective in best approach to implementing strength-based factors in prenatal care. This research seeks to enhance clinical care, reduce maternal mental health disparities, and promote equitable, person-centered care.
Rachel Logan, PhD, MPH
Dr. Rachel Logan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine (FCM) in the School of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Dr. Logan completed a postdoctoral fellowship in FCM, working with the Person-Centered Reproductive Health Program (PCRHP). Prior to joining FCM, she completed her doctorate in Community and Family Health at the University of South Florida. Rachel’s interests and research include sexual and reproductive health equity, patient-provider communication, and improving service users’ overall experiences of sexual and reproductive healthcare to help redress the pervasive traumas racialized communities have had to endure when engaging with the healthcare system. As a BIRCWH scholar, Dr. Logan will collaborate with community partners to create a person-centered PrEP care intervention for people accessing services at reproductive health clinics in Florida. She will leverage and augment skills in the application of sociostructural and critical theories, intervention development, and implementation science to design a culturally responsive HIV prevention intervention, with particular emphasis on addressing the intersections of anti-Black gendered racism.
Megan McLaughlin, MD, MPH
Dr. Megan McLaughlin is a cardiologist dedicated to improving heart health in women. She helped establish the UCSF Postpartum Cardiometabolic Wellness Clinic, where she sees patients as part of a multidisciplinary team of maternal-fetal medicine specialists and cardiologists. The clinic provides comprehensive postpartum care to women with adverse pregnancy outcomes, with the goal of reducing their long-term cardiovascular risk. Dr. McLaughlin serves on national committees within the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association related to heart disease prevention and social determinants of health. Her research focuses on designing programs to optimize health outcomes for women with preeclampsia and other hypertensive disorders of pregnancy—conditions that significantly increase lifetime risk of cardiovascular disease. Home blood pressure monitoring in the postpartum period improves outcomes in this population. As a BIRCWH scholar, Dr. McLaughlin will use implementation science to study barriers and facilitators of postpartum home blood pressure monitoring. She will then work with patients and clinicians to design and evaluate programs to increase uptake of postpartum home blood pressure monitoring.