Christina Fowler

Christina Fowler, PhD, MPH is a health services researcher with more than 20 years of experience studying health policies and large-scale public health programs. At RTI, her research focuses on publicly funded sexual and reproductive healthcare (SRH) programs (access, federal and state policies), contraceptive preferences and behaviors, pre-/inter-conception healthcare, postpartum contraception, fertility knowledge and preferences, and quality measures development and reporting. 

Dr. Fowler has led or participated in studies on behalf of various HHS agencies. From 2001 to 2022, she led multiple projects supporting performance monitoring of the Title X Family Planning Program. These OPA-funded studies included design, collection, analysis, and dissemination of Title X Family Planning Annual Report data and several other studies focused on Title X evaluation needs, quality measures for contraceptive care, and feasibility assessments. Studies undertaken for other agencies have included an FDA study of attributes affecting individuals' contraceptive choices; a CMS study of core quality measures implementation in multiple states, a HHS-wide compilation and review of performance measures for mental, substance use, and co-occurring disorders for ASPE; a CDC evaluation of the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System; and an OPA evaluation of the Pregnancy Assistance Fund Program. Currently, Dr. Fowler leads a study to develop and apply a composite social determinants of health measure/index, adapted for SRH, to assess access to federally funded, safety-net family planning services. 

Dr. Fowler is trained in health services and policy research and experienced in designing and conducting complex, multi-level, and mixed-method studies of individuals, health systems, and contextual factors shaping their interaction. She is knowledgeable of the shifting federal and state political landscape affecting access to SRH and maternal and child health services and accounts for their impact in her research. She has participated in two national expert panels and workgroups focused on improving the quality and accessibility of SRH services in the United States (National Contraceptive Access Index Work Group, National Contraceptive Quality Measures Work Group, Technical Expert Panel on Actionable Data for Delivery of SRH). 

Prior to joining RTI in 2001, she worked as a senior research associate at Futures Group International and completed a traineeship at UNC’s Carolina Population Center.