Assistant Professor (Research) of Behavioral and Social Sciences
Office: 305-4 Mencoff Hall
Tel: (401) 863-6183
Fax: (401) 863-3351
Background
Abigail Harrison joined the PSTC as a Faculty Associate in 2004. She served as a fellow under a Ruth L. Kirchstein National Research Service Award in Brown’s Warren Alpert School of Medicine in 2005-06, with funding from the National Institutes of Health. She received her PhD in 2004 in Epidemiology and Population Health from the Centre for Population Studies, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University of London. Harrison also holds both an MPH in International Health and an MA in International Development from Johns Hopkins University. Harrison is also an affiliate of the International Health Institute at Brown.
Harrison’s current research focuses on adolescents and the transition to adulthood in the context of HIV/AIDS in southern Africa. In collaboration with South African colleagues, she serves as co-investigator on a study of education, schooling patterns and HIV prevention in secondary schools, as well as a research project "Structurally Linking HIV/AIDS and Family Planning Services," in collaboration with the Reproductive Health Research Unit with funding from the Hewlett Foundation. Harrison’s research also focuses on analysis of ethnographic data from her long-term project on “Adolescents through the Lifecourse in Rural South Africa,” and on the interrelationships between non-marital unions, fertility and HIV risks among young adult women in South Africa. Recently, she has extended this work to Lesotho, in collaboration with Susan Short and with support from NICHD.