Alison Edelman, M.D., M.P.H. (she/her)

  • Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine
  • Division Head, Complex Family Planning, Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine

Biography

Alison Edelman, M.D., M.P.H. is a Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the Division Director of Complex Family Planning (CFP), and the CFP Fellowship Director. She completed all of her medical training at OHSU (MD 1997, OB/GYN Residency 2001) and was OHSU's very first complex family planning fellow (2001-2003). She completed a Master in Public Health at University of Washington, Seattle (2003). 

Dr. Edelman provides OB/GYN care at OHSU's Center for Women's Health, with a focus on complex family planning.

Dr. Edelman is an active clinician-scientist with independent research funding.  Her research has focused on management of contraceptive induced menstrual changes, emergency contraception, the interaction of obesity and contraceptive efficacy, and the COVID-19 vaccine and menstrual cycles. Dr. Edelman is also the Oregon site principal investigator for the National Institute's of Health NICHD Contraceptive Clinical Trials Network which helps to develop new female methods of contraception. Given the success of the female site at OHSU, activities have expanded to trials in development of male methods of contraception.   Her research has been nationally recognized with the American Society for Emergency Contraception ‘The Charlotte Ellertson Innovation Award’ (2017) and Contraception’s 2019 Daniel R. Mishell, Jr MD Outstanding Article Award. A complete list of her publications can be found at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/myncbi/alison.edelman.1/bibliograpahy/41144878/public/?sort=date&direction=ascending

For close to 20 years, Dr. Edelman has also served as a global technical consultant in sexual and reproductive health (SRH) with extensive incountry experience in LAC, Asia, and Africa as well as assisting with humanitarian emergency SRH response needs. She supports international non-governmental organizations collaborating with varying ministries of health to develop national strategies for introduction of safe abortion or post-abortion care or expanding contraceptive method mix or post-partum contraceptive care. Her role has included but is not limited to performing needs assessment and key stakeholder meetings, developing or updating country level standards and guidelines for care, developing and implementing training curriculums, providing technical support and training medical personnel, designing standard operating procedures and performing quality assurance evaluations and morbidity/mortality reviews. This work is centered around sustainability in order to identify, train, and support country based experts to ensure ongoing integration of the work within the core infrastructure of each country’s health system.   

 Dr. Edelman is a nationally and internationally recognized expert in SRH. She was appointed in 2022 to the UN/WHO Scientific Technical Advisory Group of the Department of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research (3 year term; only 2 members can be from North or South America). She has a number of additional leadership positions in the field including Lead Editor of the Cochrane Fertility Regulation Review Group, Associate Editor of the journal, Contraception, member of the expert working group for the Centers for Disease Control Medical Eligibility Criteria (MEC) for Contraceptive Use as well as the Selective Practice Guidelines for Contraceptive Use and a member of the World Health Organization’s steering committee for the WHO MEC. She recently completed her time as the Chair of American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists (ACOG) Committee on Gynecology Practice Bulletins (4-2021). She is continuing to work with ACOG to support the transformation of their guidance to meet IOM standards and to support ACOG COVID-19 gynecology-related FAQs.

Education and training

  • Degrees

    • M.D., 1997, Oregon Health and Science University School of Medicine
    • M.P.H., 2003, University of Washington

  • Residency

    • Obstetrics and gynecology, Oregon Health & Science University, 2001

  • Fellowship

    • Complex Family Planning, Oregon Health & Science University, 2003

  • Certifications

    • American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 2004

Memberships and associations:

  • American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG)
  • Society of Family Planning
  • American Society of Reproductive Medicine

Additional information

Publications

Elsevier pure profile

Publications

  • Double dosing ulipristal acetate emergency contraception for individuals with obesity

    BMJ Sexual and Reproductive Health
    1. Alison Edelman
    2. Jon D. Hennebold
    3. Kise Bond
    4. Jeong Y. Lim
    5. Ganesh Cherala
    6. Steven W. Blue
    7. Shawn P. Kraft
    8. David W. Erikson
    9. David Archer
    10. Jeffery Jensen

  • A Prospective Study of the Relationship of COVID-19 Vaccination to Menstrual Cycle Characteristics in Adolescent Girls

    Journal of Adolescent Health
    1. Laura A. Payne
    2. Laura C. Seidman
    3. Steven W. Granger
    4. Alison Edelman
    5. Boyu Ren

  • Associations Among Menstrual Cycle Length, Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), and Vaccination

    Obstetrics and gynecology
    1. Alexandra Alvergne
    2. Emily Boniface
    3. Blair Darney
    4. Amanda Shea
    5. Kirsten Weber
    6. Cécile Ventola
    7. Virginia J. Vitzthum
    8. Alison Edelman

  • Copper levels in cervical mucus of copper intrauterine device users versus non-users

    International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics
    1. Leo L. Han
    2. Alison B. Edelman
    3. Oluwadamilola Sosanya
    4. Bharti Garg
    5. Vivia Chi
    6. Martina Ralle

  • Emergency contraception for individuals weighing 80 kg or greater

    Contraception
    1. Alison Edelman
    2. Jeffrey T. Jensen
    3. Jill Brown
    4. Michael Thomas
    5. David F. Archer
    6. Courtney A. Schreiber
    7. Stephanie Teal
    8. Carolyn Westhoff
    9. Clint Dart
    10. Diana L. Blithe

  • Helping patients choose between pain control options for outpatient procedural abortion at less than 12 weeks' gestation

    Contraception
    1. Rebecca H. Allen
    2. Jennifer Fortin
    3. Rie Maurer
    4. Deborah Bartz
    5. Alisa B. Goldberg
    6. Alison Edelman
    7. Melissa A. Clark

  • Local anaesthesia for pain control in first trimester surgical abortion

    Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
    1. Regina Maria Renner
    2. Madeleine Ennis
    3. Adrienne E. McKercher
    4. Jillian T. Henderson
    5. Alison Edelman

  • Risk of fracture in users of hormonal contraception

    Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
    1. Shaalini Ramanadhan
    2. Jillian T. Henderson
    3. Amy Cantor
    4. Robin A. Paynter
    5. Alison Edelman

  • Timing of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Vaccination and Effects on Menstrual Cycle Changes

    Obstetrics and gynecology
    1. Alison Edelman
    2. Emily R. Boniface
    3. Victoria Male
    4. Sharon Cameron
    5. Eleonora Benhar
    6. Leo Han
    7. Kristen A. Matteson
    8. Agathe Van Lamsweerde
    9. Jack T. Pearson
    10. Blair G. Darney

  • Use of serum evaluation of contraceptive and ovarian hormones to assess reduced risk of pregnancy among women presenting for emergency contraception in a multicenter clinical trial

    Contraception
    1. Jeffrey T. Jensen
    2. Alison Edelman
    3. Carolyn L. Westhoff
    4. Coutney A. Schreiber
    5. David F. Archer
    6. Stephanie Teal
    7. Michael Thomas
    8. Jill Brown
    9. Diana L. Blithe

  • Contraceptive services in Oregon's state-funded network during the COVID-19 pandemic

    Contraception
    1. Maria I. Rodriguez
    2. Megan Skye
    3. Kaitlin Schrote
    4. Rachel Linz
    5. Nisreen Pedhiwala
    6. Abigail Liberty
    7. Megan Fuerst
    8. Alison B. Edelman

  • Educational Intervention Among Adolescents and Young Adults on Emergency Contraception Options

    Journal of Adolescent Health
    1. Cynthia C. Harper
    2. Erin Jones
    3. Claire D. Brindis
    4. Annalisa Watson
    5. Rosalyn Schroeder
    6. Cherrie B. Boyer
    7. Alison Edelman
    8. Sang Trieu
    9. Jennifer Yarger

  • Impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination on menstrual bleeding quantity

    BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology
    1. Blair G. Darney
    2. Emily R. Boniface
    3. Agathe Van Lamsweerde
    4. Leo Han
    5. Kristen A. Matteson
    6. Sharon Cameron
    7. Victoria Male
    8. Juan Acuna
    9. Eleonora Benhar
    10. Jack T. Pearson
    11. Alison Edelman

  • Red blood cell capacity of modern menstrual products

    BMJ Sexual and Reproductive Health
    1. Emma Deloughery
    2. Alyssa C. Colwill
    3. Alison Edelman
    4. Bethany Samuelson Bannow

  • Risk of thromboembolism in patients with COVID-19 who are using hormonal contraception

    BMJ Sexual and Reproductive Health
    1. Katie Hansen
    2. Megan A. Cohen
    3. Shaalini Ramanadhan
    4. Robin Paynter
    5. Alison Edelman
    6. Jillian T. Henderson

  • Risk of thromboembolism in patients with COVID-19 who are using hormonal contraception

    Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
    1. Shaalini Ramanadhan
    2. Katie Hansen
    3. Jillian T. Henderson
    4. Megan A. Cohen
    5. Robin Paynter
    6. Alison Edelman