Speizer is trained as a demographer and evaluation researcher. She has led research and evaluation studies on family planning, HIV prevention, intimate partner violence and adolescent reproductive health programs in sub-Saharan Africa, Haiti and India. One of her research projects from 2009-2018 was the evaluation of the Urban Health Initiative that sought to reach urban poor women in the state of Uttar Pradesh. The data from that study informed targeted programming, particularly for the urban poor and were also used to examine postpartum family planning, integration of family planning counseling and services with maternal and infant health services, and the meaning and measurement of pregnancy intentions.