Laura Jelliffe-Pawlowski

Laura Jelliffe-Pawlowski, PhD, MS, is a Professor. Prof. Jelliffe-Pawlowski’s research interests focus on understanding and addressing the drivers and consequences of adverse pregnancy outcomes with a special emphasis on preterm birth and associated racial/ethnic and socioeconomic inequities. Her work is highly transdisciplinary and looks at the interplay of biomolecular, social, and policy factors in observed patterns and outcomes. Her teaching and mentorship activities reflect this transdisciplinary approach with an emphasis on motivating the translation of research findings into action.

Jelliffe-Pawlowski leads a number of statewide, national, and international research efforts funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the March of Dimes, the State of California, and other entities. These includes, notably, the “Healthy Outcomes of Pregnancy for Everyone (HOPE)” consortium and study which focuses on understanding the experience of pregnant people and their infants pre- and post-COVID 19 pandemic. HOPE examines how biomolecular, social, and community factors affect the well-being and outcomes of mothers and infants and includes enrollment during pregnancy with outcome follow-up to 18-months after birth. Other ongoing projects include, for example, the NIH funded “Prediction Of Maturity, Morbidity, and Mortality in PreTerm Infants (PROMPT)”, study which focuses on examining the metabolic profiles of newborns with early preterm birth and associated outcomes, the “Transforming Health and Reducing PerInatal Anxiety through Virtual Engagement (THRIVE)”, randomized control trial (RCT), funded by the State of California which examines whether digital cognitive behavior therapy delivered by mobile app can assist in reducing anxiety symptoms in pregnant people and also examines participant acceptability of the application. Ongoing efforts also include leading the “California Prediction of Poor Outcomes of Pregnancy (CPPOP)” cohort study which focuses on investigating multi-omic drivers of preterm birth. The study interrogates biomolecular signals associated with preterm birth and includes full genome sequencing and mid-pregnancy biomolecular signaling related to metabolic, immune, stress, and placental function in hundreds of pregnancies with and without preterm birth.

Prior to her joining NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing, Jelliffe-Pawlowski was a Professor of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Chief of the Division of Lifecourse Epidemiology, a Professor in the Institute of Global Health Sciences, and Director of Discovery and Precision Health for the UCSF California Preterm Birth Initiative in the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine. She has a lifetime appointment as an Emeritus Professor of Epidemiology & Biostatistics in the UCSF School of Medicine and continues to work closely with the new Center for Birth Equity at UCSF. Prior to her appointment at UCSF, she was a leader at the Genetic Disease Screening Program within the California Department of Public Health.

Jelliffe-Pawlowski efforts have been highlighted in numerous academic and lay articles including in the New York Times, in WIRED Magazine, in the Atlantic, on CNN, and on MSNBC. In 2023, she was recognized by Forbes Magazine as one of the top 50 over 50 Innovators in the United States. She is also a Phase I and Phase II Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Grand Challenges awardee for her work in the United States and Uganda which focused on the development and validation of newborn metabolic profile as a novel measure of gestational age in infants.