Alice M. Abernathy

Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania

Additional Appointment Titles

• Attending Physician, Gynecology, Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA
• Attending Physician, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, PA
• Instructor in Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA
• Senior Fellow, Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics Founder, Maternal and Reproductive Health Working Group

Education

• BA (Biochemistry)
  New College of Florida, 2010.
• MD
  University of Florida College of Medicine, 2017.
• MSHP (Health Policy)
  University of Pennsylvania, 2023.

Post-Graduate Training

• Resident in Obstetrics and Gynecology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, 2017-2021.
• National Clinician Scholars Program , University of Pennsylvania , 2021-2023

Description of Clinical Expertise

Preconception counseling, sexual and reproductive health, contraception

Description of Other Expertise

• Health policy
• Health Services Research
• Causal inference
• Geospatial analysis

Description of Research Expertise

Alice Abernathy, MD MSHP an Academic Specialist in Obstetrics & Gynecology, and Health Services Researcher. Dr. Abernathy’s research interests include exploring the links between legislation surrounding family planning services and the racial, socioeconomic, and geographic disparities in maternal morbidity and mortality. She is also interested in understanding the impact of health policy and neighborhood factors on maternal morbidity and mortality, and interventions aimed to improve pregnancy outcomes for all people.

Selected Publications

Alice Abernathy MD, MSHP; Nadia Haerizadeh-Yazdi, PhD; Shaiza Sinha, MPH; Courtney A. Schreiber MD, MPH; Aasta Mehta MD, MPP: Strengthening the Provision of Abortion and Sexual and Reproductive Health Care Post-Dobbs: An Initiative of the Philadelphia Department of Public Health New England Journal of Medicine NEJM Catalyst Innovations in Care Delivery 5(8), July 2024.

Alice Abernathy, MD MSHP: When facts become feelings. Birth May 2024.

Katherine M Mahoney, Licia Bravo, Arden McAllister MPH,Kacie Bogar MS, Sean Hennessey, PharmD, PhD; Courtney A. Schreiber, MD MPH; Alice Abernathy MD, MSHP : Health services provided at the time of abortion in the US: a scoping review of the qualitative and quantitative evidence. medrxiv January 2024.

Claudia Hammerman, Aaron Delaney, Paul, Weiss; Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP & Melissa Goodman, Counsel of Record, Amanda Barrow, Cathren Cohen, Jaclyn Serpico Center on Reproductive Health, Law, and Policy, UCLA School of Law. : Amici curiae brief of over 300 reproductive health researchers in support of petitioners. U.S. Food & Drug Administration, et al., petitioners, v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, et al., respondents. Danco Laboratories, L.L.C., petitioner, v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, et al., respondents. United States Supreme Court brief 2024.

Alice Abernathy : Interviewed and provided background to: Kaiser Family Foundation, CNN, NBC (Philip Galewitz), the 19th (Shefali Luthra), Medscape (Arianna Sarjoo), Contraceptive Technology Update (Melinda Young) and Jezebel (Kylie Cheung). KFF, the 19th, Medscape, Contraceptive Technology Update 2023, 2024

Alice M. Abernathy, Courtney A. Schreiber, Tang Li, Jinbo Chen, Howard M. Julien, Ashwin Nathan, Lauren Eberly, Sameed Ahmed M. Khatana, and Jennifer Lewey: Variation in Hypertension in Pregnancy by State Restrictions on Abortion. Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Advances November 2023.

Alice Abernathy : FDA Approval of the First Over-The-Counter Contraceptive Isn’t Enough. The Messenger August 2023.

Alice Abernathy, MD Courtney A. Schreiber, MD, MPH Sindhu K. Srinivas, MD, MSCE: State restrictions on abortion are associated with fewer abortions in patients with high risk cardiovascular conditions. Contraception August 2023.

Roe AH, Abernathy A, Flynn AN, McAllister A, Koelper NC, Sammel MD, Schreiber CA, Sonalkar S: Utility and Limitations of Human Chorionic Gonadotropin Levels for Remote Follow-up After Medical Management of Early Pregnancy Loss. Obstet Gynecol 139(6):1149-1151, Jun 2022.

McAllister A, Lang B, Flynn A, Meisel ZF, Abernathy A, Sammel MD Schreiber CA: Pregnant and bleeding: A model to assess factors associated with the need for emergency care in early pregnancy. Am J Emerg Med 53:94-98, Mar 2022