Associate Professor of Behavioral and Social Sciences (Research)

Overview

Abigail Harrison is Associate Professor in the Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences, Brown University School of Public Health.  She conducts research on global HIV prevention, reproductive health and health disparities among adolescents and young women, with a primary focus on South Africa, other locations in sub-Saharan Africa including Nigeria, and the United States.  At Brown, Harrison's research is conducted with the International Health Institute, and through collaborations with the Population Studies and Training Center, the Center for AIDS Research, the Africa Initiative (Watson Institute), the Global Health Initiative, and with global and local partners.  She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in global health, and directs the Global Health Concentration for the MPH program. 

Harrison's current research addresses the intersections of violence and HIV in South African schools, the health and social needs of adolescents living with HIV, and the development of HIV prevention interventions for adolescent girls and young women using multidisciplinary implementation science approaches.  She also studies women's reproductive decision-making in the context of contraceptive use and PrEP for HIV prevention.  Harrison's research emphasizes qualitative methods and community-based participatory approaches, in addition to intervention development and evaluation. Harrison is co-investigator on multiple NIH-funded research awards, and has also received mentorship funding and awards focused on training the next generation of researchers in HIV social science and women's reproductive health (in South Africa, Nigeria and the United States).  She received her PhD in Epidemiology and Population Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University of London, and an MA/MPH in International Health and Social Change and Development from Johns Hopkins University. 

Brown Affiliations

Research Areas