Dr. Chelsea B. Polis is an epidemiologist who works towards improving global sexual and reproductive health, with a focus on issues including contraception, HIV/STIs, abortion, and infertility. Her collaborations with the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have contributed to efforts in updating global contraceptive guidance in the World Health Organization's Medical Eligibility Criteria for Contraceptive Use. She was awarded the 2023 John Maddox Prize as an early career researcher, by Sense About Science and Nature for "her courage in challenging false marketing claims made by medical device manufacturers; for effective popular communication, and for her analysis of the flawed research used to market a fertility tracking thermometer, known as Daysy, which she communicated effectively in the face of lawsuits and threats." In 2024, she was selected for participation in the North American cohort of the WomenLift Health leadership program.
Since September 2022, Chelsea has served as Senior Scientist, Epidemiology at the Center for Biomedical Research (CBR) within the Population Council. CBR is a non-profit product development entity which investigates new approaches to prevent unintended pregnancy, HIV, and other STIs - this includes developing next-generation contraceptive options and innovative multipurpose prevention technologies (MPTs).
Chelsea advocates for reliance on high-quality scientific research in policies and programs, particularly when considering controversial issues in public health. She has testified to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and spoken with Congressional staff about the necessity of relying on scientific evidence to avoid unnecessary politicization of reproductive health. During 2020-2022, she was frivolously and unsuccessfully sued by a for-profit company in a classic SLAPP suit for publicly sharing her scientific and regulatory concerns pertaining to their marketing of a fertility device. Sharing her scientific concerns led to the company's flawed paper being retracted from the scientific literature; sharing her regulatory concerns led to the FDA forcing the company to change its marketing language. She now advocates for anti-SLAPP laws to protect free speech for scientists and others.
As an undergraduate at Brown University ('02), Chelsea studied medical anthropology with a focus on teenage female sexuality and reproduction, and conducted research in Madagascar. She has worked or consulted for organizations including Ibis Reproductive Health, the Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health at UCSF, the International Consortium for Emergency Contraception, the Substance Abuse Research Unit at Rhode Island Hospital, the Initiative for Multipurpose Prevention Technologies, and the World Health Organization.
She completed her PhD ('09) and post-doctoral fellowship ('11) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. During this time, she worked closely with the Rakai Health Sciences Program in Uganda. Between 2011 and 2014, she served as Senior Epidemiological Advisor to the Office of Population and Reproductive Health at the United States Agency for International Development. Between 2014 and 2021, Chelsea served at the Guttmacher Institute as a Principal Research Scientist leading projects in collaboration with scientists from Malawi, Zimbabwe, Ghana, South Africa, and elsewhere. She holds an Associate appointment in the Department of Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and serves on the Editorial Board of Contraception.
Chelsea is active in scientific communications, and believes it is important for public health professionals to engage with the public and the media. She has been cited in outlets including BBC News, Time Magazine, NPR, CNN, The Economist, Kaiser Health News, The New Statesman, Scientific American, Pacific Standard, STAT News, Buzzfeed, Cosmopolitan Magazine, Popular Science, and elsewhere.
Since September 2022, Chelsea has served as Senior Scientist, Epidemiology at the Center for Biomedical Research (CBR) within the Population Council. CBR is a non-profit product development entity which investigates new approaches to prevent unintended pregnancy, HIV, and other STIs - this includes developing next-generation contraceptive options and innovative multipurpose prevention technologies (MPTs).
Chelsea advocates for reliance on high-quality scientific research in policies and programs, particularly when considering controversial issues in public health. She has testified to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and spoken with Congressional staff about the necessity of relying on scientific evidence to avoid unnecessary politicization of reproductive health. During 2020-2022, she was frivolously and unsuccessfully sued by a for-profit company in a classic SLAPP suit for publicly sharing her scientific and regulatory concerns pertaining to their marketing of a fertility device. Sharing her scientific concerns led to the company's flawed paper being retracted from the scientific literature; sharing her regulatory concerns led to the FDA forcing the company to change its marketing language. She now advocates for anti-SLAPP laws to protect free speech for scientists and others.
As an undergraduate at Brown University ('02), Chelsea studied medical anthropology with a focus on teenage female sexuality and reproduction, and conducted research in Madagascar. She has worked or consulted for organizations including Ibis Reproductive Health, the Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health at UCSF, the International Consortium for Emergency Contraception, the Substance Abuse Research Unit at Rhode Island Hospital, the Initiative for Multipurpose Prevention Technologies, and the World Health Organization.
She completed her PhD ('09) and post-doctoral fellowship ('11) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. During this time, she worked closely with the Rakai Health Sciences Program in Uganda. Between 2011 and 2014, she served as Senior Epidemiological Advisor to the Office of Population and Reproductive Health at the United States Agency for International Development. Between 2014 and 2021, Chelsea served at the Guttmacher Institute as a Principal Research Scientist leading projects in collaboration with scientists from Malawi, Zimbabwe, Ghana, South Africa, and elsewhere. She holds an Associate appointment in the Department of Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and serves on the Editorial Board of Contraception.
Chelsea is active in scientific communications, and believes it is important for public health professionals to engage with the public and the media. She has been cited in outlets including BBC News, Time Magazine, NPR, CNN, The Economist, Kaiser Health News, The New Statesman, Scientific American, Pacific Standard, STAT News, Buzzfeed, Cosmopolitan Magazine, Popular Science, and elsewhere.
You can find Chelsea on Mastodon and at @cbpolis on Twitter.