Alison Gemmill

Alison Gemmill is an Associate Professor of Epidemiology at the UCLA School of Public Health and a nationally recognized expert in perinatal epidemiology and fertility. Her research leverages large-scale data and natural experiments to understand how structural and political determinants—such as policies, economic shocks, and social stressors—shape maternal, infant, and reproductive health outcomes, including preterm birth, fetal loss, and maternal complications. She is currently co-PI of an NIH-funded study evaluating the fertility, maternal health, and infant health consequences of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, which overturned decades of constitutional protection for abortion rights.

Beyond her policy-focused research, Dr. Gemmill has expertise in the measurement of maternal mortality in both U.S. and global contexts and serves as a technical advisor to the World Health Organization. Her scholarship also addresses U.S. fertility patterns, contraceptive use, and reproductive goals, with current projects examining the determinants and consequences of recent fertility declines. She co-leads the U.S.-based Human Fertility Database, funded by the National Science Foundation, which will enable researchers to investigate the multifactorial drivers of period and cohort fertility change across time and place.

Dr. Gemmill received her BA in Geography from the UCLA, her MPH in Maternal and Child Health from UC Berkeley, and her PhD in Demography at UC Berkeley. Before joining the faculty at UCLA in 2025, she was an Associate Professor in the Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health at Johns Hopkins University, where she also served as Associate Director of the Hopkins Population Center.