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.