Biography
I am a PhD candidate in the College of Social Work at The Ohio State University and a Health Policy Research Scholar with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. My research focuses on adolescent sexual and reproductive health, access to reproductive health care, and the impact of health policy, using mixed methods and community-based participatory approaches.
I currently work with Dr. Alicia Bunger at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center on implementation research, including a study adapting the NIMH suicide risk screening clinical pathway for school-based health centers in rural Appalachia. My earlier research includes implementation studies of contraceptive care for adolescents in psychiatric care with Dr. Elise Berlan at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, analyses of the Ohio Survey of Women with the Ohio Policy Evaluation Network, and community-based system dynamics modeling of reproductive health in Columbus. I also teach undergraduate social work courses and received the College of Social Work’s 2026 Doctoral Student Excellence in Teaching Award.
I completed my Master of Social Work in 2020 and obtained my social work license. Afterward, I worked as a Functional Family Therapist with adolescents and their families. Prior to my MSW, I earned my BA in Latin American Studies and Urban Studies from Washington University in St. Louis. When I am not studying or working on research, I spend time with my two children and my husband, Winston.
- Adolescent Sexual & Reproductive Health
- Access to Contraception & Reproductive Health Care
- Adolescent Mental Health
- Health Policy & Health Equity
- Community-Based Participatory Research
- Systems Thinking
PhD in Social Work (expected), 2027
The Ohio State University
Masters in Social Work, 2020
The Ohio State University
BA in Latin American Studies and Urban Studies, 2018
Washington University in St. Louis
Research
Dissertation
Examining Access to Contraception Care for Adolescents with Mental Health Conditions: An Application of the Contraceptive Access Conceptual Framework
Adolescents are facing concurrent crises: rising rates of poor mental health and, in some regions of the United States, increasingly constrained access to sexual and reproductive health care. Sexual health and mental health are both emerging, critical domains of adolescent wellness, yet little is known about the bidirectional relationship between them or how it shapes sexual health–promoting behaviors.
My dissertation addresses this gap by examining patterns, preferences, attitudes, and experiences with contraception care among adolescents assigned female at birth (AFAB) with mental health disorders. Grounded in the Theory of Planned Behavior and the Contraceptive Access Conceptual Framework (CACF), the study uses multiple methods:
Aim 1 · Subgroups and contraception use. Using survey data from 451 adolescents AFAB hospitalized for psychiatric treatment, I conduct a latent class analysis to identify subgroups based on sexual history and contraception knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes, then test how these subgroups relate to contraception use.
Aim 2 · Adolescent perspectives. Focus groups with adolescents AFAB with mental health disorders explore how they see the relationship between mental health and access to contraception. Transcripts are analyzed thematically alongside an a priori codebook grounded in the CACF.
Aim 3 · Mapping the system. I integrate findings from Aims 1 and 2 with the existing literature in a causal loop diagram of the sexual and reproductive health care system. The diagram shows causal pathways and feedback loops that point to policy and practice levers for improving access to contraception care.
The study will offer theoretical insight into how well the CACF applies to adolescents with mental health disorders, along with practical recommendations for policy, practice, and future research.
Experience
Implementation science research with Dr. Alicia Bunger on two federally funded studies:
- Suicide risk screening in rural Appalachian school-based health centers (NIMH): adapting and implementing the NIMH Clinical Pathway. Qualitative interviews with providers, parent–child surveys, electronic health record data, and quality improvement meetings.
- Cross-system interventions with peer mentors (COSTARs) (NIDA): staffing and supports for cross-system programs. Grant preparation, focus groups, qualitative analysis, and survey data collection.
Implementation research with Dr. Alicia Bunger in partnership with Nationwide Children’s Hospital:
- Contraceptive care for adolescents in psychiatric care: led a qualitative study of provider perspectives on a telehealth contraceptive counseling program in outpatient psychiatry, and supported recruitment, data collection, analysis, and writing for a study of contraceptive care for hospitalized adolescents.
- Ohio START evaluation: qualitative analysis of collaboration strategies, facilitators, and barriers in a statewide, multi-system child welfare and substance use program.
Responsibilities include:
- Providing evidence-based treatment to adolescents and their families.
- Collaborating with collateral providers.
- Documenting treatment and case management.
Teaching
Instructor of record, College of Social Work, The Ohio State University
Social Work 3201: Social Justice and Social Welfare Policy
Bachelor of Social Work advanced writing course · In person · Spring 2026
Social Work 3401: Research & Statistics for Social Work
Bachelor of Social Work · Asynchronous online · Autumn 2025
Social Work 1120: Introduction to Social Welfare
Bachelor of Social Work / General Education · Asynchronous online · Autumn 2024, Summer 2025
Social Work 3597: Adolescent Sexual Health, Sexuality and Parenthood: A Global Perspective
Bachelor of Social Work · Asynchronous online · Summer 2024
Recipient of the College of Social Work’s 2026 Doctoral Student Excellence in Teaching Award, given to one doctoral student each year.
Fellowships & Awards
Publications
Presentations
Ebersole, A., Underwood, A., Moore, A., & Berlan, E. (2026, May 6–9). Implementing integrated contraception counseling for adolescents during outpatient psychiatry visits: A quality improvement study. European Society of Contraception Congress, Belgrade, Serbia. [Oral paper]
Underwood, A., Bunger, A., & Christensen, M. (2025, December 14–17). Adapting the NIMH clinical pathway to rural Appalachian school-based health centers. 18th Annual Conference on the Science of Dissemination and Implementation in Health, AcademyHealth and the National Institutes of Health, National Harbor, MD. [Poster] · View poster (PDF)
Christensen, M., Underwood, A., & Bunger, A. (2025, November 8–11). Enhancing suicide prevention in rural Appalachia: Insights from the PRISM-guided adaptation of the NIMH pathway for school-based health centers. IASR/AFSP International Summit on Suicide Research, Boston, MA. [Poster]
Smith, M., Underwood, A., Warren, E., Norris Turner, A., & Gallo, M. (2024, October 19–21). When state policy clashed with opinion: Post-Dobbs increases in support for abortion among Ohio women. Society of Family Planning Annual Meeting, Detroit, MI. [Poster]
Gallo, M., Underwood, A., Smith, M., Warren, E., & Norris Turner, A. (2024, October 19–21). Changes in the knowledge of abortion legality following Dobbs. Society of Family Planning Annual Meeting, Detroit, MI. [Poster]
Underwood, A., Smith, M., Davis, J., Norris Turner, A., Weiner, I., & Gallo, M. (2024, October 19–21). Religiosity and contraception behaviors pre- and post-Dobbs in Ohio. Society of Family Planning Annual Meeting, Detroit, MI. [Poster] · View poster (PDF)
Underwood, A., Smith, M., Norris Turner, A., & Gallo, M. (2024, June 29–July 2). Examining access to health care for Ohio women in the post-Dobbs era. AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting, Baltimore, MD. [Poster]
Underwood, A., Bunger, A., Hyzak, K., Hardy, C., & Berlan, E. (2024, January 10–14). Examining the equitable implementation of a contraceptive care intervention for adolescents hospitalized with psychiatric conditions. Society for Social Work Research 28th Annual Conference, Washington, DC. [Poster]
Underwood, A., Hyzak, K., Ebersole, A., Bunger, A., & Berlan, E. (2023, June 24–27). A qualitative investigation of an intervention connecting adolescents in psychiatric care to contraceptive care. AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting, Seattle, WA. [Poster] · View poster (PDF)
Freisthler, B., Chadwick, C., Renick, K., Murphy, I. E., Shockley-McCarthy, K., Underwood, A., Ye, Y., & Wolfe, J. (2021, January 19–22). Parenting during a pandemic: Assessing parents’ daily stress and use of punitive punishment. Society for Social Work Research, virtual. [Oral paper]
Underwood, A. (2020, January 16–19). Migration from Central America to the United States: A systems dynamics perspective. Society for Social Work Research, Washington, DC. [Poster]
Underwood, A., & Flores, Y. (2019). Pregnant women in migration: Service gaps from a feminist perspective. 4th Binational Mexico–United States Conference on Social Work and Migration, Houston, TX. [Oral presentation]
Underwood, A. (2019). Migration from Central America to the United States: A systems dynamics perspective / Migración de Centroamérica a los Estados Unidos: Una perspectiva de la dinámica de sistemas. Congreso Nacional e Internacional de Trabajo Social, Cúcuta, Colombia. [Oral presentation, in Spanish]
Contact
If you’d like to connect about my research, a potential collaboration, or teaching, I would love to hear from you. The best way to reach me is by email, and you can also find me on LinkedIn. I look forward to hearing from you!