Jessica Gipson, PhD, MPH

Dr. Jessica D. Gipson is Professor and Fred H. Bixby Endowed Chair of Population and Reproductive Health at UCLA Fielding School of Public Health and Director of the UCLA Bixby Center to Advance Sexual and Reproductive Health Equity. As a double Bruin and first-generation college student, her commitment to sexual and reproductive health equity is deeply rooted in lived experience and early career work on the front lines of care and community engagement. Jessica has worked in communities across the United States and globally—including the Caribbean, South and Southeast Asia, and Africa—where people’s basic human rights were routinely violated and access to accurate information and essential health services was limited or denied. These experiences shaped her understanding that sex and reproduction are fundamental to human existence, yet are often overlooked, stigmatized, or even criminalized due to political and ideological forces. As a social scientist and demographer, Dr. Gipson has spent more than two decades partnering with communities to examine how social, cultural, and policy contexts shape people’s ability to realize their sexual and reproductive health goals. As Bixby Director, she is committed to advancing interdisciplinary research, mentoring future leaders, and translating evidence into action that affirms sexual and reproductive health as a basic human right.