Dr. Ellen W. Freeman is research professor in the department of obstetrics/gynecology and the department of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. She also serves as director of the human behavior and reproduction unit in the department of obstetrics/gynecology and the premenstrual syndrome research program, which aims to identify effective treatments and improved diagnostic criteria for this clinical disorder.  She was principal investigator for the BIRCH program, a mentored training program funded by the NIH for training young faculty in research in women's health.

Dr. Freeman's research focuses on mood, behavior and reproductive hormones. She is the principal investigator of a 15-year, NIH-funded cohort study of women transitioning to menopause to determine relationships between ovarian aging and symptoms commonly attributed to menopause. She is also the principal investigator of an NIH grant now in its 24^th year for premenstrual syndrome studies that determine efficacy of treatments and identification of core symptoms of the syndrome. Previous research includes behavioral factors in teenage pregnancy and contraceptive use and psychosocial factors in infertility treatments.

Dr. Freeman has authored or coauthored more than 150 scientific articles and book chapters on the menopausal transition, premenstrual syndrome, teenage pregnancy, infertility and related topics and a book on teenage pregnancy. She has served on several NIH study sections and multiple national and international advisory panels. She is on the editorial board of Archives of Women's Mental Health; Future Medicine/Women's Health; and Obstetrics Gynecology International. She is an ad hoc reviewer for numerous medical journals including Archives of General Psychiatry, Journal of the American Medical Association, Obstetrics and Gynecology and Menopause.