Abigail Greenleaf, PhD
- Assistant Professor of Population and Family Health (in ICAP) at the CUMC
Overview
Dr. Abigail (Abba) Greenleaf is a public health demographer whose research focuses on (1) women’s reproductive health across geographies and the lifespan and; (2) intensive longitudinal data collection. By integrating these areas, she is creating innovative findings for international sexual and reproductive health population sciences. She enjoys leveraging innovative data collection approaches to generate high-frequency, cost- efficient population data for public health action.
After a public health class in college introduced her to the field, Dr. Greenleaf joined the Peace Corps to understand public health in a global context, and she spent two years in Cameroon. She then pursued an MPH at Columbia and after she worked for Centers for Disease Control as an Allan Rosenfield Global Health Fellow in Ethiopia and Cameroon. She earned her PhD in the Population, Family and Reproductive Health Department at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health before coming back to Columbia. In addition to her research, Dr. Greenleaf spends a portion of her time teaching. She co-teaches "Research Design and Data Collection" for public health graduate students and she mirrors her own educational path by co-teaching an undergraduate class, "Data Science and Health Equity in New York City". The undergraduates learn how to use data science to unpack health inequities in New York City.
Academic Appointments
- Assistant Professor of Population and Family Health (in ICAP) at the CUMC
Credentials & Experience
Education & Training
- BS, 2007 George Washington University
- MPH, 2012 Columbia University
- PhD, 2019 Johns Hopkins University
Honors & Awards
2024 - Association of Population Centers Early Career Population Researchers Fellow
2021 - Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health: Calderone Junior Faculty Research Prize
2018 - American Association for Public Opinion Research DC Chapter: Student Paper Competition Winner -
2016 - Laurie Schwab Zabin Award for Population and Family Planning Students
2016 - Edward J. Dehne Award in Population Dynamics
Research
Research Interests
- Biostatistical Methods
- Global Health
- HIV/AIDS
- Infectious Diseases
- Maternal and Reproductive Health
Selected Publications
Greenleaf, AR., Ngcamphalala, C., Mahlalela, K., Masangane, Z., Ndlangamandla, M., Nuwagaba-Biribonwoha, H., & Abrams, E. J. (2025). HIV Prevention Patterns Among a Population-Based Sample of HIV Negative Young Women in Eswatini. AIDS and Behavior. doi:10.1007/s10461-025-04903-8
Greenleaf, AR., Sachathep, K., Geisler, E., Abularrage, T. F., Reid, G. A., Ndagije, F., Nkumbula, T., Nuwagaba-Biribonwoha, H., Abrams, E., & Philip, N. M. (2025). Contraceptive use among adolescent girls and young women ages 15–24 in seven high HIV prevalence countries. Frontiers in Reproductive Health, 7. doi:10.3389/frph.2025.1667613
Greenleaf AR, Gadiaga A, Choi Y, Guiella G, Turke S, Battle N, Ahmed S, Moreau C. Automated and Interviewer-Administered Mobile Phone Surveys in Burkina Faso: Sociodemographic Differences Among Female Mobile Phone Survey Respondents and Nonrespondents. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth 2020;8(7):e17891) doi:10.2196/17891
Greenleaf AR, Gadiaga A, Guiella G, Turke S, Battle N, Ahmed S, Moreau C. Comparability of modern contraceptive use estimates between a face-to-face survey and a cellphone survey among women in Burkina Faso. PLoS ONE 2020;15(5):e0231819.
Greenleaf AR, Gibson DG, Khattar C, Labrique AB, Pariyo GW. Building the Evidence Base for Remote Data Collection in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Comparing Reliability and Accuracy Across Survey Modalities. J Med Internet Res. 2017;19(5): e140.
Global Health Activities
Population-based HIV Impact Assessment Survey (PHIA)