News & Commentary written by Dr. Carolyn Sufrin

Carolyn Sufrin, M.D., Ph.D., is an assistant professor of gynecology and obstetrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and of health, behavior, and society at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. As a board-certified obstetrician and gynecologist, her areas of clinical expertise include family planning, general obstetrics and gynecologic care.

Dr. Sufrin earned an undergraduate degree in anthropology at Amherst College, followed by a medical degree at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She completed residency training at Magee-Womens Hospital of University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, as well as a fellowship in family planning at the University of California, San Francisco. While at the University of California, she also earned a doctorate in medical anthropology.

Before joining the Johns Hopkins faculty in 2014, Dr. Sufrin served as assistant professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco.

Dr. Sufrin’s research focuses on reproductive health care for incarcerated women. While in San Francisco, she started a women’s health clinic at the San Francisco County Jail, which continues to provide gynecologic and obstetric care. Based on her ethnographic research with workers and pregnant women at the jail, she wrote and published Jailcare: Finding the Safety Net for Women Behind Bars.

She is director of the Advocacy and Research on Reproductive Wellness in Incarcerated People program, which conducts NIH- and foundation-funded research on issues such as pregnancy outcomes in prisons and jails, medication-assisted treatment for pregnant people in jails and contraception access in carceral settings.

Dr. Sufrin serves on the board of the National Commission on Correctional Health Care. She is a fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and of the Society of Family Planning.