We are excited to announce the launch of Resound Research for Reproductive Health, a new collaborative fiscally sponsored by The Tides Center. The Resound Research team, previously known as the Texas Policy Evaluation Project (TxPEP) at The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin), will continue to conduct the rigorous research for which we are known on contraception, abortion, and pregnancy in and beyond Texas.
Dr. Kari White, a nationally recognized researcher in reproductive health, will lead Resound Research as the Executive and Scientific Director. Dr. White has been the principal investigator of TxPEP since 2019 while an associate professor at the Steve Hicks School of Social Work and Department of Sociology at UT Austin. The Resound Research team includes university-based researchers, healthcare professionals, and other policy experts.
“Our work will remain rooted in Texas because the impacts of policies that take place here can shine a light on what may happen in other states that enact similar laws,” said Dr. White. “The challenges–and opportunities–that are arising in abortion and contraceptive care at this time also compel us to look beyond Texas at the shifts that are taking place in the broader healthcare landscape.”
As Resound Research, the team will continue to conduct studies focused on Texas, such as
those examining:
- the availability and quality of reproductive healthcare in Texas’s border communities,
The Frontera Project - how people seeking abortion weigh the costs and timeliness of options related to
facility-based care - how minors in Texas decide when to involve a parent in their reproductive health care
- geographic gaps in access to abortion, contraception, and obstetric care
New regional and national research projects will include evaluations of: - reproductive healthcare access in Louisiana and Mississippi
- men’s decision making and care navigation around vasectomy
Since its founding by Dr. Joseph E. Potter, professor emeritus at UT Austin, in 2011, TxPEP researchers have published over 70 peer-reviewed articles, including highly cited articles in the nation’s top scientific journals, such as the New England Journal of Medicine and JAMA. The team also has published over 30 data-driven research briefs, many of them rapid-response analyses of policy and programmatic changes directly impacting Texans.
“UT Austin provided a supportive and generative home for TxPEP research for more than 10 years,” said Dr. White. “Our team had a great opportunity to build our program, and, in our new chapter as Resound Research for Reproductive Health, we look forward to expanding our vision of evidence-based, comprehensive, obtainable reproductive healthcare for all communities.”
