Nafissatou J. Diop currently works for the Frontiers in Reproductive Health program, a ten-year operations research cooperative agreement that the Population Council and partners are executing for the US Agency for International Development. Diop is based in the Population Council's office in Senegal. Her role is to implement and monitor operations research studies of reproductive health programs and services in West Africa. In particular, she is responsible for implementing studies on female genital cutting, adolescents, and maternal health. Diop is providing technical assistance and capacity building to the ministries of health of several West African countries and to national NGOs.

Diop joined the Council in 1996 for a two-year fellowship program, then took the position of associate in 1998. She has conducted several situation analysis studies within the West Africa region. Her recent research has focused on testing strategies to improve adolescent reproductive health in the northern regions of Senegal. In southern Senegal and Burkina Faso she has also tested the effectiveness of the Village Empowerment Program developed by TOSTAN, an NGO that is using an integrated approach of human rights, health, hygiene, and problem-solving to involve the community in the decision to abandon the practices of female genital cutting and early marriage. Currently she is working on a postabortion care assessment in West Africa and female condom strategic planning for Francophone countries.

Diop has a Ph.D in demography from the University of Montreal, a D.E.A. in the socioeconomics of development, and a master's in sociology from the University of Nanterre, Paris, France.