Public Health professor selected as winner of reproductive health award
Andrea DeMaria, assistant professor of Public Health, was selected as a 2019 winner of 120 Under 40: The New Generation of Family Planning Leaders, an initiative by the Bill & Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The award recognizes DeMaria’s work advancing family planning and reproductive health.
The 40 winners for 2019 were chosen through public online voting, scoring by a jury of experts, and leaders in family planning, and the project secretariat. The winners each receive $1,000 from the Gates Institute to continue their work in family planning.
About Andrea DeMaria
As assistant professor in Purdue University’s Division of Consumer Science and the Department of Public Health, Dr. Andrea DeMaria takes an interdisciplinary approach to understanding women’s sexual and reproductive health behaviors and issues. She is committed to a comprehensive approach to women’s health research, drawing from the behavioral, social, and clinical science fields.
DeMaria has published more than 25 manuscripts in top tier journals, including the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Women and Birth, and Health Communication since 2011 and has presented more than times in 10 different. countries.
Domestically, her work explores contraceptive choice, including implementing a LARC (IUD/implant) campaign. DeMaria is disrupting the status quo by changing LARC attitudes and behaviors. Other projects include increasing rural reproductive healthcare through telehealth and paramedicine programs.
Internationally, Dr. DeMaria researches contraceptive decision-making in Italy with Purdue Study Abroad programs. She investigates novel policy and purchase outlets for condoms and emergency contraception aimed at decreasing purchase embarrassment and increasing access and her work yields international partnerships.
About 120 under 40
The Bill & Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health announced the 2019 winners of 120 Under 40: The New Generation of Family Planning Leaders on September 12, 2019.
120 Under 40 recognizes and highlights the achievements of the next generation of family planning leaders worldwide; it is led by the Gates Institute with support from Bayer. Over the course of this multi-year project, 120 young family planning champions will be chosen, 40 in each of the three project years.
This year’s 40 winners are advocates, researchers, service providers, epidemiologists, medical doctors, program officers, communications/media professionals, and founders of NGOs and nonprofits. They work all over the world—in clinics and universities, in offices, and in the field—to advance family planning and reproductive health.
“This final group of winners is as remarkable as the first,” says Jose “Oying” Rimon II, Director of the Gates Institute and chair of the 120 Under 40 Jury. “These young leaders are creating lasting positive change worldwide, and their impact will only multiply as they forge new relationships and collaborations with their fellow 120 Under 40 winners.”