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 (equitable 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 performance reporting feasibility assessments. Studies undertaken for other agencies have included 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-funded process evaluation of the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System, and an OPA-funded 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 equitable access to Title X services. She is also the technical advisor for SRH on an FDA-funded study of attributes affecting contraceptives choices. 

Dr. Fowler is trained 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 workgroups (National Contraceptive Access Index Work Group and National Contraceptive Quality Measures Work Group) focused on improving the quality and accessibility of SRH services in the United States. 

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.