Suzanne Bell

Suzanne Bell is an Associate Professor in the Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She is affiliated with the William H. Gates Sr. Institute for Population and Reproductive Health and the Hopkins Population Center, and her research is centered on fertility, abortion, contraception, and infertility, with a strong focus on measurement and disparities.

• PhD, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (2018)
• MPH, University of California, Berkeley (2011)
• BA, University of California, Los Angeles (2007)

Her research interests lie at the intersection of demography and reproductive epidemiology, particularly in improving survey methodologies to measure sensitive reproductive behaviors such as abortion and infertility. She conducts population-level analyses to assess the impact of policy changes, especially abortion restrictions in the U.S., on fertility and infant outcomes. Her work also extends to sub-Saharan Africa, where she investigates care-seeking for infertility and postabortion care access.

The recent publications of Dr. Bell reveal a strong trend in evaluating the public health consequences of abortion bans, using rigorous statistical methods to link policy changes with fertility and infant mortality outcomes. She also leads innovative work on measuring infertility in low-resource settings and understanding misconceptions about contraceptive-induced infertility.

• Laurie Schwab Zabin Award (2017)
• Edward J. Dehne Award in Population Dynamics (2017)
• Endowed Fellowship in Family Planning and Reproductive Health (2015, 2016)
• Bill and Melinda Gates Institute Travel Scholarship (2015)
• JHSPH Center for Global Public Health Research Scholarship (2015)
• Robertson Scholarship (2014, 2015)
• UC Berkeley Bixby Center Practicum Fellowship (2010)
• FLAS Fellowship (2009, 2010)

Dr. Bell is actively involved in advising and mentoring, though specific student names are not listed. She leads multiple research projects under the Performance Monitoring for Action (PMA) initiative and has secured funding from major public health institutions. Her work bridges academic research and policy impact, with publications frequently cited in media and policy discussions. She teaches courses such as Critiquing the Research Literature in Maternal, Child, and Reproductive Health, contributing to the training of future public health researchers.

She leads research teams focused on reproductive health measurement and policy evaluation, both in the U.S. and globally. Her lab contributes to the PMA project, which conducts panel surveys to monitor family planning and reproductive health indicators across multiple countries. Her team employs advanced statistical and survey methodologies to generate evidence for public health programming and policy reform.