Biography

Kristen Burke, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Population Health Sciences at the University of Central Florida. Her research examines the structural barriers people face in forming their desired families, focusing on access to reproductive health services and the role of social institutions in shaping the transition to parenthood. Taking a person-centered approach grounded in individuals’ stated aspirations for their reproductive trajectories, she is committed to producing research that informs policy and improves health outcomes.

Dr. Burke joined UCF in 2025 after completing a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco. She earned her Ph.D. in Sociology with a specialization in Demography from the University of Texas at Austin. Prior to graduate study, she worked at the Guttmacher Institute in New York City and served as an AmeriCorps VISTA in Spartanburg, South Carolina. She grew up in Bell, Florida, an experience that grounds her commitment to studying how place, policy, and social location shape health and family life.