Biography

Jenifer E. Allsworth, PhD, is an Associate Professor and Vice Chair of the Department of Biomedical and Health Informatics at the University of Missouri–Kansas City (UMKC) School of Medicine. She earned her bachelor’s degree in biology and her Ph.D. in epidemiology from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.

Dr. Allsworth’s research examines how social constructs — such as race, violence, and poverty — influence women’s healthcare utilization and reproductive outcomes. Her current projects focus on identifying modifiable factors that drive disparities in obstetric and gynecologic outcomes; using electronic health record data to better understand women’s reproductive healthcare use and outcomes; and conducting community-based participatory research studies on COVID-19 testing, HIV screening, promotion of healthy eating and physical activity to prevent diabetes, and improvements in health.

Through these initiatives, she aims to develop and evaluate community-driven interventions to advance health equity and reduce health disparities. She has a strong record of independent and collaborative research funding, including multiple awards from the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the State of Missouri, and Jackson County, Missouri.

To date, she has published 125 peer-reviewed manuscripts, 43% of which appear in journals ranked in the top 10th percentile by impact factor. Her work has been published in leading outlets, including the New England Journal of Medicine, and has been cited over 10,000 times (h-index: 50; h-index since 2018: 31).

Dr. Allsworth also contributes extensively to the scientific community through peer review and service. She has been a continuous reviewer for the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Obstetrics and Gynecology since 2006/7, receiving multiple reviewer awards. She serves as a statistical consultant for the Journal of Maternal-Fetal and Neonatal Medicine and regularly reviews for the Health Resources and Services Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Institutes of Health.

At UMKC, Dr. Allsworth is a successful instructor in epidemiology, health services research, and medical bioinformatics, and she is a dedicated mentor to graduate students, medical residents, and clinical fellows pursuing clinical and epidemiologic studies of gynecologic and obstetric outcomes.

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