Emily Godfrey

Family physician, reproductive health specialist, and public health researcher, Emily M. Godfrey, MD MPH is a professor in the Departments of Family Medicine and Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Washington.

Dr. Godfrey holds a bachelor’s degree in English Literature from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a medical degree from the Medical College of Wisconsin and completed her family medicine residency at the West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park, Illinois. She is a graduate of the Complex Family Planning Fellowship, and holds a master’s of public health from the University of Rochester.

Fulfilling her passion to train and empower the next generation of physicians to provide comprehensive reproductive health care within primary care, Dr. Godfrey created and then directed the Reproductive Health Education in Family Medicine (RHEDI) program at the University of Illinois-Chicago Department of Family Medicine from 2005-2010. From 2010-2012, Dr. Godfrey worked for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Division of Reproductive Health in Atlanta, GA where she co-authored systematic reviews related to contraception and family planning clinical care. The CDC used this work to update the United States Medical Eligibility Criteria (MEC) and Selected Practice Recommendation (SPR) for Contraceptive Use and Providing Quality Family Planning Services guidelines.

Since joining the University of Washington in 2012, Dr. Godfrey has developed a robust research portfolio around women’s health and health disparities by combining her experience with primary care and public health in clinical trials, observational studies, quality improvement and patient-centered outcomes research. To date she has published 60 peer-reviewed publications. Her research has focused on innovations to improve contraceptive method satisfaction, safety of contraception among women with cystic fibrosis, and the implementation of telehealth abortion in primary care. Using qualitative and quantitative data, Dr. Godfrey’s research tracks online abortion service use nationally.  More recently, her research seeks to evaluate the role of family medicine in reducing health inequities related to pregnancy-related morbidity and mortality.  

Dr. Godfrey is a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians and the Society of Family Planning. Her national professional experience includes: board member of the Association of Reproductive Health Professionals, current Vice Chair of the North American Primary Care Research Group (NAPCRG) Program Committee, current member of the CDC U.S. MEC and SPR Guideline Development Group, co-founder and inaugural board chair of a nationally recognized patient-engaged research organization, the Cystic Fibrosis Reproductive and Sexual Health Collaborative. She is also on the Upstream National Medical Advisory Committee, and is a current TEACH Early Abortion Training Curriculum Advisory Committee member.

Dr. Godfrey is a three-time recipient of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Ambassador Scholarship Award. She received the University of Illinois Faculty Mentoring Award and the Linda K. Gunzburger Faculty Award for Excellence in Scholarship from the University of Illinois Department of Family Medicine. In 2006, she was recognized for her extraordinary contribution to the health and well-being of women by Sara Feigenholtz of the Illinois House of Representatives.