Ursula’s research spans reproductive demography, maternal epidemiology, and global health. Her research aims to advance the conceptualisation and measurement of maternal morbidity and mortality to improve reproductive health outcomes. So far, Ursula’s research has focused on the extended postpartum period beyond 42 days, the cumulative burden of adverse maternal outcomes across the reproductive life course, quality of care, maternal near miss complications, hypertensive diseases of pregnancy, and perinatal mental health.

At LCDS, Ursula works with Dr Joshua Wilde on the SEXRATIO project, investigating the effects of maternal stress on sex ratio at birth. Before joining LCDS, Ursula completed her PhD in Epidemiology and Population Health at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, with a year at the European Doctoral School of Demography. She also works for the World Health Organization’s Human Reproduction Programme on global estimates of maternal mortality and maternal causes of death.

Prior to her PhD, Ursula worked for IDinsight, a non-profit research organisation in Delhi, Johannesburg, and Accra, on (quasi) experimental evaluations of health interventions, to inform programme design and implementation. She holds an MSc in Population and Development from the London School of Economics and a BA from the University of Oxford.