The Sex Education Initiative at Teachers College, Columbia University trains professionals to integrate Fertility Awareness, Reproductive Life Planning, and Reproductive Identity Formation — a groundbreaking concept developed and taught in our lab— into their work.

Matrescence education helps mothers navigate the transition to motherhood, preparing them for the many biological, emotional, social, and beyond changes they experience. Unlike childbirth education, this approach takes a broader view—examining how parenthood reshapes a mother’s sense of self over time and offering resilience-building strategies.

Our collaboration with scholar Allison Davis, Ph.D., explores maternal mental health, climate change, and ecopsychology. By highlighting the ecological dimension of matrescence, we examine how the natural world shapes maternal experience, fostering a deeper, eco-aware understanding of human development.

Our lab explores reproductive identity through personal narratives across different groups, using a life course approach that values subjectivity and diversity. Studying life stories more accurately captures the inner dimensions of complex reproductive experiences. Through this reflective process, individuals develop a deeper understanding of their reproductive journeys.

We train peer health educators to provide accurate, evidence-based guidance on reproductive decision-making. Our program equips students to foster informed, inclusive, and supportive conversations about reproductive health on campus.

We bring our research to the public through social and news media, ensuring our identity theories are shared accurately. Our Writer-in-Residence program partners with journalists to translate findings into clear, impactful stories, reframing conversations and deepening understanding of parenthood.

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

THEORIST / EDUCATOR/ PSYCHOLOGIST

Reproductive & Maternal Health Specialization

Dr. Aurélie Athan is a clinical psychologist and research professor at Columbia University, where she leads the Khora Lab to explore the psychological development across the reproductive lifespan. Best known for reviving and expanding the concept of matrescence—the transition to motherhood—her work reframes this period as a profound developmental passage rather than a clinical diagnosis. Dr. Athan also introduced the concept of reproductive identity to capture how desires and decisions around parenthood shape the self. Through research, education, and public scholarship, her lab advances strengths-based, inclusive frameworks that center the reproductive and maternal experiences of all people.

PROJECT COORDINATOR

RESEARCH DATA MANAGER

Clinical Psychology Ph.D. (Health Care Emphasis)

Lisa Sholomon (she/her) is the program and research coordinator of the Khora: Maternal and Reproductive Psychology Lab at Teachers College, Columbia University, where she leads a team of masters and doctoral students studying topics such as reproductive identity, reproductive life planning, and maternal ecopsychology. She holds a B.A. in Psychology and French from Barnard College, Columbia University, and recently received her M.A. in Clinical Psychology from Teachers College. Next year, Lisa will be joining Pace University's Clinical Psychology (Health Care Emphasis) Ph.D. program where she will continue her journey toward becoming a perinatal and reproductive psychologist. Lisa's research interests include the intersection of feminism and matrescence, the role of childfree aunts and uncles in childrearing practices, maternal and reproductive agency, and the interplay between identity formation and stigma for single mothers, chronically ill individuals, and the queer community as they encounter reproductive decisions and crises of psychosocial development.

DOCTORAL CANDIDATE / HEALTH PROMOTION & EDUCATION

Health Promotion Ph.D. (Equity Emphasis)

Born and raised in Inglewood, CA, Jasmine (she/they) is a semi-ambidextrous ex-choir singer born with four eyebrows. She holds a degree in Women and Gender Studies with a concentration in Medical Ethics from Wellesley College as well as a Master of Public Health concentrated in Community Health Sciences and Maternal and Child Health from Boston University School of Public Health. Her experience working with youth-serving and sexual & reproductive health organizations span nine years and three states. She is a public health leader with extensive education and experience in providing equity-based, client-centered services to communities living within the margins. Jasmine's primary professional goal is to engage and empower clients to become champions for their bodies, futures, and communities. When she's not working towards that goal, she's cuddling her three adorable kittens.

PROJECT TEAM LEAD

DOCTORAL CANDIDATE / HEALTH PROMOTION & EDUCATION

Pavita Singh, MPH (she/her) is currently pursuing her Doctor of Education in Health Promotion & Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. For her dissertation, she intends to take a narrative approach to exploring reproductive desires of Sikh young women in the US. Along with being a student, Pavita is a Writing Fellow at the Graduate Writing Center, an instructor of Women’s Health, and a member of the KHORA Lab. Outside of Teachers College, she is an instructor of a course called “Self-Care & Storytelling for Public Health Professionals” at Johns Hopkins University, the Executive Director of Girls Health Ed, and a freelance writer and editor. Pavita received her Master of Public Health in Social & Behavioral Sciences at Yale University and her Bachelor of Arts in Gender & Sexuality Studies, Linguistics, and Child & Adolescent Mental Health Studies at New York University.

PROJECT TEAM LEAD

VISITING DOCTORAL CANDIDATE

Regan Moss, BS, MPH holds a BS in Neuroscience and MPH from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. She is an incoming doctoral student at Tulane University where she is pursuing a PhD in Social, Behavioral, and Population Health Sciences. Her master’s thesis focused on a) the maternal and reproductive health needs of FSW and b) the maternal identities of FSW. She is interested in sociological analysis of the biomedical approach to maternal, gynecological, psychiatric, and obstetric health as well as social and legal epidemiological investigations of the social, policy, and structural drivers of health. She is particularly interested in reproductive, menstrual, and maternal (mental) health, motherhood, women’s mental health, and violence against women (e.g., obstetric violence) within carceral spaces, the sexual commerce industry, and as jointly shaped by rurality and/or resource scarcity. Her research seeks to understand how people make meaning of maternal and reproductive health events in their lives and how social institutions shape their experiences and meaning-making.

RESEARCH ASSISTANT

DOCTORAL CANDIDATE, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY

Yasmin Butt (she/her/ella) graduated from the Clinical Psychology M.A. program at Teachers College, Columbia University, and is an incoming Clinical Psychology PhD student at The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Yasmin’s research focuses on promoting and advocating for equitable mental health by deepening understanding of multicultural gender and reproductive issues, with a particular focus on QTBIPOC populations.

RESEARCH ASSISTANT

CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY MASTERS PROGRAM

Elaine Peng, BS, holds a bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from University of Minnesota-Twin Cities with minors in Management and Family Therapy. Her research interests focus on family dynamics & systems, maternal health, motherhood, reproductive identity, parenting, depression & suicide prevention, and global mental health issues.

STORYTELLING FACILITATOR

Kelly Moffitt-Hawasly is a passionate storyteller and teacher who works at the intersection of digital media, community, and psychology. A final-year Master's student in the Clinical Psychology program at Teachers College, Kelly has concentrated her studies on child and family psychology, joining the Maternal and Reproductive Psychology Lab in the fall of 2022 to study reproductive identity. A journalist and storyteller by training, working for years in public radio and at StoryCorps, and now a full-time communicator at Columbia University, Kelly is particularly interested in the psychological underpinnings and impact of storytelling on the mental health and well-being of youth and families. In addition to her work in the lab, Kelly is currently analyzing the themes, narratives, and complexity of reproductive identity stories for her integrative project. A proud mentor with Girls Write Now, Kelly holds an M.A. in Journalism, B.A. in International Studies, and B.J. in Magazine Journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia.

EDUCATION TRAINER

DOCTORAL CANDIDATE, COUNSELING PSYCHOLOGY

Olivia Snow is a doctoral candidate in the Counseling Psychology EdM program with Teachers College, Columbia University. Her current research interests include studying the effects of racial trauma, discrimination, and institutionalized racism on the physical and mental health of Black women and new mothers. Through her studies she hopes to change the delivery of medical care to become inclusive for women of color and their unique experiences and needs. Olivia also works as a doula at Ancient Song Doula Services and hopes to integrate these methods into her work. Her passion for reproductive identity has become a major aspect of her approach as a researcher and counselor. To her, reproductive identity is about access, autonomy and choice.

SCHOLAR-IN-RESIDENCE (2022-2024)

https://www.dralliedavis.com/publications

WRITER-IN-RESIDENCE (2023-2024)

https://www.instagram.com/christine.m.carrig/