Ndola Prata, a physician and medical demographer, earned her medical degree from the University of Angola and an MSc in medical demography from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Dr. Prata practiced medicine in Angola for 10 years and served as head of the Social Statistics Department at the National Institute of Statistics of Angola. Shortly after moving to the United States to begin her tenure as a researcher and lecturer at the University of California Berkeley, she also served as a demographer/analyst for the Centers for Disease Control’s Division of Reproductive Health for six years, a role she resumed briefly from 2010 to 2011.

Her research interests include family planning, abortion, safe motherhood and maternal mortality. She focuses on the design, implementation and evaluation of family planning and maternal health interventions that increase access to contraceptives in developing countries, particularly for underserved populations. Her projects investigate strategies for harnessing existing resources, including human capacity and health care infrastructure, while also gathering evidence for setting priorities on national health agendas. In addition to her current research in sub-Saharan Africa, Dr. Prata has conducted projects in Latin America and Central and South Asia.