Julie Pulerwitz

Julie Pulerwitz is a senior socio-behavioral scientist at the Population Council, based in Washington DC, where she provides leadership for a global and domestic portfolio of HIV and SGBV research that generates evidence to inform programs and policies. She is also faculty at The George Washington University, Milken Institute School of Public Health and Senior Advisor at the Washington, DC Center for AIDS Research (CFAR). Her research, using implementation science methods and community-partnered RCTs, focuses on gender inequalities, male engagement, stigma, marginalized populations, and social and behavior change. Dr. Pulerwitz is a highly cited author with 80+ peer reviewed publications, and work that has been profiled in The Lancet, NPR, and the New York Times. She has served as an advisor to UNAIDS, the World Health Organization, and UN Women. Dr. Pulerwitz has developed widely used measurement tools for power dynamics in sexual relationships (the SRPS), gender norms / attitudes (the GEM Scale), HIV stigma, and resiliency.

Dr. Pulerwitz has worked in 20+ countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America, plus the United States. She is part of the scientific leadership team of the HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) and is co-Chair of USAID’s Interagency Gender Working Group, Male Engagement Task Force. She was awarded the Best International Abstract, and the Outstanding Young Professional Award, from the American Public Health Association. Prior to her tenure at the Population Council, she was the director of the HIV and TB, and Gender, Violence, and Rights Global Programs at PATH.

Dr. Pulerwitz received her masters and doctoral degrees from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, where she was presented with the Taplin Award, and her undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania. She is also an AmeriCorps/VISTA alumna, and recipient of The Congressional Award Gold Medal.