Diana Greene Foster

Diana Greene Foster is a professor at the University of California, San Francisco in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences. As a demographer and reproductive health researcher, she uses quantitative analysis to evaluate the effectiveness of family planning policies and the effect of unintended pregnancy.

An internationally recognized expert on women's experiences with contraception and abortion, Dr. Foster led the nationwide longitudinal Turnaway Study analyzing the health and wellbeing of women who have or are denied an abortion. The study has provided critical insights into the physical, mental health and economic effects of unwanted pregnancies, and how these effects are negatively exacerbated when a woman is denied an abortion. She published her findings in a book, "The Turnaway Study: Ten Years, a Thousand Women and the Consequences of Having -- or Being Denied -- an Abortion."

In 2023, Dr. Foster was named a 2023 MacArthur Foundation Fellow and Forbes magazine recognized her on their "50 Over 50" list for her influential research on women's health. She has also received the Harriet B. Presser Award from the Population Association of America and in 2022, was recognized as one of the ten people who shaped science that year by Nature. She has authored over 120 scientific papers in such journals as American Journal of Public Health, JAMA Psychiatry, JAMA Pediatrics, BMC Women’s Health, Contraception, and PLoS One.

Dr. Foster received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of California at Berkeley and a PhD from Princeton University.