Emily Johnston is a principal research associate in the Health Policy Division at the Urban Institute. She has expertise in access to and use of health care, reproductive and maternal health, and Medicaid policy. Her research focuses on the effects of state and federal policies on the health and well-being of individuals, parents, and families.

She is coprincipal investigator of the Reproductive Health Experiences and Access study, which includes a large national survey and qualitative data collection designed to assess access to abortion, contraception, and other forms of reproductive health care in the post-Dobbs era. She has also contributed to the federal evaluation of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Innovation Center’s Strong Start for Mothers and Newborns Initiative, the statewide evaluation of California’s Guaranteed Income Pilot Program, the design and analysis of the Survey of Family Planning and Women’s Lives, multiple studies of the impacts of Medicaid expansion, and a body of work documenting insurance coverage and access to health care surrounding pregnancy. Her research has been published in several academic journals, including Health Affairs, Pediatrics, the American Journal of Public Health, Health Services Research, and Women’s Health Issues.

Johnston holds a PhD in health services research and health policy from Emory University.