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Ali K. Groves

Associate Professor of Community Health and Prevention, Drexel University

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About Ali

Groves is a social and behavioral scientist who uses mixed-methods research methods to examine whether and how social policies and programs can promote reproductive justice and reduce health inequities. She examine locally and globally whether and how access to cash transfers improves health outcomes during pregnancy and the postpartum period. Her approach and methods are grounded in the belief that addressing inequities is best done in close collaboration with communities and individuals with lived experience.

In the News

Quoted by Asia Tabb in "How Cash Support Can Improve Pregnancy Outcomes in Pa.," WITF, December 18, 2025.
Research discussed by Nicole Leonard, in "Philadelphia Families Say Philly Joy Bank Guaranteed Income Program Provided Stability during Pregnancy," WHYY News, October 7, 2025.
Research discussed by Jonece Starr Dunigan, in "This Guaranteed Income Program Has Provided $1.4 Million in Cash Assistance for Philadelphia Mothers," NJ.com, April 18, 2025.
Opinion: "Hot Topics: Guaranteed Income During and after Pregnancy," Ali K. Groves (with Elizabeth Valdez), Drexel University Urban Health Collaborative, April 7, 2025.
Opinion: "Evictions Threaten Our Health," Ali K. Groves (with Patrick Smith, Luwam Gebrekristos, and and Kim Blankenship), Gender Policy Report, September 20, 2023.
Quoted by Kate Farrish in "Yale Study Links Housing Instability and Risky Sexual Behaviors," CT Mirror, July 2, 2021.

Publications

"Assessing the Durability of a Cash Transfer on Physical Intimate Partner Violence and Sexual Relationships Among Adolescent Girls and Young Women in Rural South Africa" (with Luwam T. Gebrekristos, Marie C.D. Stoner, F. Xavier Gómez-Olivé, Kathleen Kahn, and Audrey E. Pettifor). Social Science & Medicine 350 (2024).

Examines whether a cash transfer program for adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) in South Africa continued to protect them from intimate partner violence (IPV) after the payments stopped. Finds that while the strongest reductions in IPV occurred during the first two years of receiving cash, some protective effects—such as reduced sexual partnering—persisted after the program ended, though they were weaker and not always statistically significant.

"Eviction, Intimate Partner Violence and HIV: Expanding Concepts and Assessing the Pathways through Which Sexual Partnership Dynamics Impact Health" (with Patrick D. Smith, Luwam T. Gebrekristos, Danya E. Keene, Alana Rosenberg, and Kim M. Blankenship). Social Science and Medicine (2022).

Examines whether landlord-related forced moves reported at baseline (including, but not limited to, legal eviction) is associated with HIV sexual risk reported six months later. Findings show that forced moves can trigger relationship violence, which in turn heightens HIV vulnerability.

"Adolescent Mothers in Eastern and Southern Africa: An Overlooked and Uniquely Vulnerable Subpopulation in the Fight Against HIV" (with Luwam T. Gebrekristos, Patrick D. Smith, Kirsten Stoebenau, Marie C. Stoner, Wole Ameyan, and Alex C. Ezeh). Journal of Adolescent Health 70, no. 6 (2022): 895-901.

Examines the intersection between adolescent motherhood and HIV infection across 10 Eastern and Southern African countries, where over half of all HIV infections occur among adolescent girls. Finds that adolescent mothers had significantly higher odds of HIV infection than their non-mother peers, even after adjusting for sociodemographic factors.