Yenupini Joyce Adams

Biography & Research

Yenupini Joyce Adams is a concurrent associate professor of the practice in the Keough School of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame. She also is an associate professor of the practice and the global maternal research lead at Notre Dame's Eck Institute for Global Health. 

Adams holds a Ph.D. in nursing science from Michigan State University and a bachelor of science in nursing from Calvin University in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Her research is dedicated to improving postpartum health outcomes among women most impacted by maternal mortality. She is highly motivated and passionate about using research interventions to improve maternal health, promote safe motherhood and decrease maternal morbidity and mortality among populations disproportionately affected in the United States and in Sub-Saharan Africa where the burden of maternal mortality is most severe.

Adams has experience conducting patient focused research, and implementing both healthcare systems and community-based interventions to improve access to quality postpartum care and education. She is focused on developing interventions that can be scaled-up and adopted into existing systems of care to improve health outcomes and decrease maternal morbidity and mortality.

Adams has developed an innovative group model of postpartum care called Focused Postpartum Care (Focused-PPC). Focused-PPC is an integrated postpartum care, education, and support model for women after birth. It provides women with more frequent postpartum follow-ups with providers for an extended period of 12 months after birth, standardized postpartum education for the entire post-birth year, and peer support through group sessions. This model of group postpartum care has been implemented in both Sub-Saharan Africa (Ghana) and the United States (Indiana), and is available upon< request for adaptation and implementation in any healthcare system.

Adams is a faculty fellow of the Keough School's Pulte Institute for Global Development.

Personal Blog: saveourmothers.org

Recognitions and Awards

• 2024 Emerging Leader, Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute
• 2020 New Investigator Award by the Midwest Nursing Research Society women’s health and transitions in childbearing research interest group
• AACN/Johnson & Johnson Minority Nurse Faculty Scholars Award by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (2013)

News & Media

• "Nearly half of maternal deaths in Pennsylvania occur more than 6 weeks after giving birth" (The Conversation, The Philadelphia Inquirer & more)
• Video: "Fighting for maternal health"
• "Notre Dame expert eager to launch postpartum care pilot project" (WVPE/NPR)
• "Strengthening postpartum care for Indiana mothers"