New to CPRC - Kelli Hall

This is a series to introduce CPRC members to a broader community.

January 05, 2021

Discipline/Training Background: Maternal Child Health Nursing, Epidemiology, Demography

Department: Heilbrunn Department of Population & Family Health, Mailman School of Public Health

Started at Columbia: I joined Mailman as an Associate Professor in April 2020. I am delighted to return to New York City after completing her PhD at Columbia in 2010.

 

What research are you working on currently? 

My NIH- and foundation-funded program uses biosocial and multi-level frameworks and interdisciplinary methods to study the social determinants of reproductive health and health disparities in the U.S. and Africa. One major research theme entails evaluating the effects of policies and other macrosocial factors on family planning service delivery, access to care and outcomes. My 15 years+ of clinical experience as a primary care advanced practice nurse inform a second theme of work focused on understanding and addressing interrelationships between reproductive, mental and behavioral health and social wellbeing during adolescence and young adulthood. I am also the former Founding Director and Principal Investigator of the Center for Reproductive Health Research in the SouthEast (RISE) at Emory.

What motivated you to research in your specialized subject matter?  

Growing up in eastern Kentucky, I saw first hand how the social determinants of health, including poverty, lack of education and health care access, and social stigma and discrimination, shaped adverse outcomes and health and gender inequities for women in my community. I embarked on a career path dedicated to understanding and addressing those structural influences to improve the health and social wellbeing and reduce disparities for young women like those with whom I grew up.

What are the policies or areas of policies to which your work is relevant?

My policy-relevant research focuses on laws governing access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care and their impact on women’s interrelated health outcomes in the U.S. and Africa. I am also interested in the roles of broad social policies, including education and economic security laws, in shaping health and wellbeing during adolescence and young adulthood.

Main collaborators at Columbia? Elsewhere? 

I am happy to be collaborating with faculty across the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia, as well as long-time colleagues at Emory University, Harvard University, Stanford University, Temple University, University of Iowa, and University of Michigan, among others.

Don't be shy; what accomplishment are you most proud of and why?

I was recently elected as an Emerging Leader in Health and Medicine with the National Academy of Medicine. I also serve on Board of Directors of the Society of Family Planning and on the Executive Committee of the National Medical Committee of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. I was recognized with the Outstanding Young Professional in the Population, Sexual and Reproductive Health Section of APHA and as the Robert DuRant Award for Statistical Innovation and Methodological Rigor from the Society of Adolescent Health and Medicine.

If people want to learn more about your research, where should they start? 

You can access the full bio here.

Fun fact about you:

In my free time, I enjoy long runs in Central Park with my nearly 4-year-old son Dylan.