Bixby Center In the News - Archive
11/08/07
Carole Joffe, PhD, recounts the frustration of doctors trying to obtain abortions for patients in RH Reality Check
In "Groveling for Choice: What Good Doctors Will Do" (Reproductive Health Reality Check, 11/8/07), Carole Joffe, PhD, tells the stories, which took place more than 40 years apart, of two female doctors imploring male colleagues and the establishment on behalf of patients who needed abortions.
11/05/07
Claire Brindis, DrPH, discusses California teens and family planning in the The Dallas Morning News
Claire Brindis, DrPH, and Douglas Kirby, PhD, of ETR Associates, describe California's family planning program for low income men and women, Family PACT, which also provides contraceptives to low income teens. California teaches comprehensive sex eduation in schools in contrast to Texas, which promotes an abstinence-only curriculum. Dr. Brindis' research shows that, from 1991-2004, California's teen birth rate fell by 47 percent, while the United States' teen birth rate fell by one third. During the same period Texas' teen birth rate fell by 19 percent.
Related links:
Decline in Unintended Pregnancies in California: California Congressional Districts
Decline in Unintended Pregnancies in California: California State Senate and Assembly Districts
Family PACT Fact Sheet on Adolescent Services
11/02/07
Bixby Center faculty members lend their expertise to medical education reform in Vietnam
This October, UCSF faculty members associated with the Bixby Center for Reproductive Health Research & Policy participated in both an evidence-based medicine and problem-based learning training course and a high-level policy seminar with medical educators in Vietnam. The group, led by Principal Investigator Uta Landy, PhD, included Drs. Eugene Washington, Lee Learman, Philip Darney, Rebecca Jackson, and George Sawaya. The training course was a follow up to an earlier course held in June by faculty members Drs. Sawaya and Jody Steinauer. The final course in this series is scheduled for spring 2008 in Ho Chi Minh City. Dr. Landy hopes this program will serve as a model program for improving medical education in other countries.
10/29/07
Women's Global Health Scholars conclude inaugural year
Nancy Padian, PhD, director of the Women's Global Health Imperative (WGHI), congratulated the Women's Global Health Scholars for concluding the program's first year with the determination and know-how to carve out leadership positions in health care around the world -- and for exceeding the goals they had set at the start of the year. The first class of Women's Global Health Scholars hailed from Africa (Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, South Africa, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Botswana), Asia (China, India, Vietnam), Eastern Europe (Turkey, Georgia), and Latin America (Brazil, Argentina, Peru). The program consists of two one-week courses at UCSF, monthly virtual meetings and ongoing mentorship.
10/19/07
Dr. Suellen Miller discusses the non-pneumatic anti-shock garment (NASG) and a new MacArthur grant on The World radio program
Suellen Miller, PhD, RN, CNM, MHA, speaks about using the low-tech NASG to reduce maternal mortality and save women's lives on the The World report, "Maternal health focus of MacArthur grant." See additional coverage of this radio event on UCSF Today. For more information about the grant, see "MacArthur Grant Funds Innovative UCSF Project to Reduce Maternal Mortaility" (Synapse, 11/8/07) and "Providing Nigerian Hospitals with Equipment and Supplies to Save Mothers' Lives" (UNFPA News, 10/11/07).
08/10/07
Philip Darney, MD, MSc, interviewed by The Boston Globe about injection use to ensure fetal demise in late-term abortions
San Francisco General Hospital does not use digoxin or potassium chloride injections to ensure fetal demise in late-term abortions because, "We do not believe that our patients should take a risk for which the only clear benefit is a legal one to the physician," wrote Dr. Philip Darney, San Francisco General Hospital’s Chief of Obstetrics, in e-mailed response to the reporter's inquiry. "Shots assist in aborting fetuses" (The Boston Globe, 8/10/07) focused on doctors' reactions to the U.S. Supreme Court's April decision to uphold the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act. The Act imposes the possibility of a two-year prison sentence for abortions in which the fetus is partially delivered while alive.
07/30/07
Philip Darney, MD, MSc, interviewed about the Today Sponge in The New York Times
Dr. Darney weighs in on the re-released contraceptive, the Today Sponge, in "Good News, Elaine: The Sponge Is Back, With a More Modern Approach" (The New York Times, 7/30/07).
07/25/07
Nancy Padian, PhD, speaks at the International AIDS Society Conference in Sydney, Australia
Dr. Nancy Padian reviewed methods for preventing transmission of HIV in the context of her recent study of diaphragms as a barrier method of HIV prevention and made recommendations for future research during a plenary session of the 4th International AIDS Society Conference in Sydney, Australia. Dr. Padian's speech, "Synthesizing Our Options: Biomedical Prevention Technologies in the Context of Behavioural Interventions," was covered by Inter Press Service, "Scoop" World, and Trinidad & Tobago Express. A video of the plenary, as well as Dr. Padian's slides, can be accessed on Kaisernetwork.org.
07/23/07
Claire Brindis, DrPH, on WBUR's On Point
Dr. Claire Brindis speaks about the importance of comprehensive sex education on the WBUR morning news program On Point. See additional coverage of this radio event at UCSF Today.
07/12/07
Nancy Padian, PhD, announces results of clinical trial examining diaphragm use in preventing HIV infection
Dr. Nancy Padian announced that a clinical trial involving 5,045 women in South Africa and Zimbabwe found no statistical difference in the rate of new HIV infections in the two study arms: those who received a diaphragm plus lubricant along with male condoms for their partners and those who only received male condoms. The study, "Diaphragm and lubricant gel for prevention of HIV acquisition in southern African women: a randomised controlled trial" (The Lancet, available online 13 July 2007), was widely covered by the media including The Wall Street Journal, the San Francisco Chronicle, Science Magazine, Deutsche Presse-Agentur, WebMD, and Reuters. The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine interviewed Dr. Padian about what comes next for HIV prevention trials (podcast). The BBC included results of the trial in a review of news about HIV prevention. The UCSF News Release can be found here.
02/11/07
Claire Brindis, DrPH, speaks about the need for comprehensive sex education in the San Francisco Chronicle
Dr. Claire Brindis discusses the importance of comprehensive sex education in "Abstinence-only sex ed finds few scientific fans" (San Francisco Chronicle, 2/11/07). Even in California — which has seen the second largest decline in teen pregancy rates in the nation from 1991-2004 (and has not accepted federal aid that would require abstinence-only education programs) — it is important to keep educating our diverse population.
02/11/07
Drs. Claire Brindis and Tina Raine-Bennett discuss teen sexuality in the San Francisco Chronicle
Claire Brindis, DrPH, and Tina Raine-Bennett, MD, MPH, speak about the issues that today's teens face regarding sexuality in "THE MODERN AGE: Generation Confused" (San Francisco Chronicle, 2/11/07). With new technologies, such as Plan B® and the HPV vaccine, teens now have a greater ability to prevent pregnancy and HPV, but they often lack access to information and receive mixed messages about their sexuality.
01/16/07
Dr. George Sawaya discusses Pap tests in The New York Times
Dr. George Sawaya speaks about Pap and HPV testing in "Pap Test, A Mainstay Against Cervical Cancer, May Be Fading" (The New York Times, 1/16/07).
10/11/06
Drs. Vincanne Adams and Suellen Miller win the 2006 Polgar Prize
The Society for Medical Anthropology (SMA) awarded the 2006 Steven Polgar Prize to Vincanne Adams and co-authors Suellen Miller, Sienna Craig, Nyima, Sonam, Droyoung, Lhakpen, and Michael Varner for "The Challenge of Cross-Cultural Clinical Trials Research: Case Report from the Tibetan Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China" (Medical Anthropology Quarterly, 19(3): 267-289). The Polgar Prize is awarded annually for the best paper published in SMA’s journal Medical Anthropology Quarterly.
09/21/06
Nancy Padian, PhD, and the UCSF Conference on Women and AIDS featured on ABC/KGO
Please see the link below for an article and Video On Demand featuring Dr. Nancy Padian and the UCSF AIDS conference.
08/25/06
Cynthia Harper, PhD, and Carole Joffe, PhD in the San Francisco Chronicle
Cynthia Harper, PhD, and Carole Joffe, PhD, discuss the potential impact of Plan B emergency contraception going over-the-counter in "Wider access to pill changes everything" (San Francisco Chronicle, 8/25/06).
08/24/06
Dr. Tina Raine discusses Plan B over-the-counter in The New York Times
Tina Raine, MD, discusses emergency contraception and unintended pregnancy in "F.D.A. Approved Broader Access to Next-Day Pill" (The New York Times, 8/25/06). The FDA announced its decision today to approve Plan B emergency contraception for over-the-counter access to women aged 18 and over. Please see Emergency Contracpetion Over-The-Counter for more information about Plan B.
08/13/06
Dr. Suellen Miller appears on Mother Jones Radio
Dr. Suellen Miller discusses preventing maternal death during childbirth with the non-pneumatic anti-shock garment (NASG) on Mother Jones Radio.
06/06/06
Dr. Philip Darney discusses continuous use of hormonal contraception in The Washington Post
Philip Darney, MD, MSc, was quoted in "Period: Full Stop?" (The Washington Post, 6/6/06) about continuous use of hormonal contraception (e.g., birth control pills, the patch, or the vaginal ring).
05/20/06
Nancy Padian, PhD, co-authors column about AIDS funding in The Washington Post
Dean Jamison, PhD, and Nancy Padian, PhD, published "Where AIDS Funding Should Go" in The Washington Post on May 20, 2006. The column discusses the publication Disease Control Priorities in Developing Countries (2nd Edition), specifically detailing the "five conclusings that are either opposed by the U.S. government or that recommend strategies that the United States is not using."
05/15/06
Dr. Suellen Miller invited to attend Global Women's Action Network for Children Conference
Her Majesty Queen Rania Al-Abdullah is hosting the Global Women's Action Network for Children Conference June 11-13, 2006. The conference will be jointly launched by the Jordanian National Council for Family Affairs and the US-based Children's Defense Fund. The conference participants will include prominent political and academic figures, including the Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and Nobel Peace Prize Laureates Shirin Ebadi and Wangari Maathai. Dr. Suellen Miller has been asked to speak on maternal mortality and the Non-pneumatic Anti-Shock Garment (NASG).
05/12/06
Dr. Cynthia Harper et al. win 2005 Roy Pitkin Award for excellence in research
Cynthia Harper, PhD, Monica Cheong, MD, Corinne Rocca, MPH, Philip Darney, MD, MSc, and Tina Raine, MD, MPH, were awarded the 2005 Roy M. Pitkin Award from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) for their article "The Effect of Increased Access to Emergency Contraception Among Young Adolescents" (Obstetrics & Gynecology 2005; 106:483-491). The award was established in 1998 to honor obstetrics and gynecology departments that "promote and demonstrate excellence in research."
04/03/06
Tori Sutherland and Dr. Suellen Miller report on maternal health issues in Egypt, Yemen, and Nigeria in a New York Times blog
Tori Sutherland, a Women's Global Health Imperative (WGHI) Safe Motherhood Program intern, co-authors essay with Dr. Suellen Miller, which is featured in "On The Ground," the blog of Nicholas Kristof, columnist for The New York Times. The essay details an eye-opening trip to Egypt, Yemen, and Nigeria to observe conditions in maternal health hospitals, where needs are great and the means to help women are stretched thin.
02/27/06
Dr. Suellen Miller publishes pilot study on the non-pneumatic anti-shock garment (NASG)
"First aid for obstetric haemorrhage: the pilot study of the non-pneumatic anti-shock garment in Egypt," published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, finds that the NASG--a reusable neoprene suit--shows promise for management of obstetric haemorrhage, particulary in lower resource settings. Haemorrhaging is a leading cause of maternal deaths worldwide. Please see news coverage by Rueters, the Los Angeles Times, and the CBC.
11/09/05
Suellen Miller, PhD, CNM, RN, discusses microbicides in the San Francisco Chronicle's Open Forum
"A new tool in keeping women HIV free" highlights the importance of microbicide research for HIV prevention, especially in contexts where women lack control over sexual decision-making.
10/07/05
Cynthia Harper, PhD, and Tina Raine, MD, MPH, featured in Science "News Focus"
Science's News Focus article "Plan B: A Collision of Science and Politics" highlights the emergency contraception research of Dr. Harper and Dr. Raine. Please see the Current Events webpage "Emergency Contraception Over-the-Counter" for more information about this issue.
09/15/05
Claire Brindis, DrPH, in the news regarding recent NCHS report on sexual behavior
Dr. Claire Brindis was quoted in several news articles discussing the National Center for Health Statistics' September 15, 2005 report "Sexual Behavior and Selected Health Measures: Men and Women 15-44 Years of Age, United States, 2002." Please see coverage in The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and TIME Magazine.
08/23/05
UCSF researchers publish literature review about fetal pain in the Journal of the American Medical Association
"Fetal Pain: A Systematic Multidisciplinary Review of the Evidence," which appeared in the August issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, examines whether a fetus feels pain and whether safe and effective techniques exist for providing direct fetal anesthesia. The review finds that fetal perception of pain is unlikely before 29 or 30 weeks. The article also finds that there is little data addressing the effectiveness of direct fetal anesthesia or the safety of such techniques on pregnant women. See news coverage of the study in The New York Times, The Washingon Post (AP), the Los Angeles Times, and the San Francisco Chronicle.
08/15/05
Dr. Philip Darney discusses medication abortion in the Los Angeles Times
Dr. Darney interviewed in the Los Angeles Times's article "Abortion Pill Investigated in Four California Deaths."
08/12/05
Dr. Nancy Padian featured in Science News Focus
Dr. Padian discusses her study examining the diaphragm as a means to prevent HIV in Science's News Focus "HIV/AIDS: Prevention Cocktails: Combining Tools to Stop HIV's Spread" by Jon Cohen.
07/24/05
M. Catherine Maternowska, PhD, in The New York Times Magazine
"Haiti Eyes" By M. CATHERINE MATERNOWSKA
Published: July 24, 2005, The New York Times Magazine
This powerful piece by Dr. Maternowska describes her recent life-threatening experience in Haiti, where she has done public health work for 22 years.
06/13/05
Suneeta Krishnan, PhD, wins 2004 Presidential Early Career Award
Dr. Krishnan, director of HIV prevention programs in India for the Women’s Global Health Imperative, was named a recipient of the 2004 Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers. The award is the nation's highest honor for professionals at the outset of their independent research careers. Dr. Krishnan, is an epidemiologist who works in Southern India. She is conducting two studies that examine the relationship between economic opportunity and HIV prevention among girls and investigate gender-based power dynamics and susceptibility to HIV among married women. She also explores the barriers to treatment adherence and AIDS-related stigma.
05/12/05
Dr. Felicia Stewart wins Nordberg Award from Population Council
Dr. Felicia H. Stewart, Co-Director of the CRHRP and Director of Advancing New Standards In Reproductive Health (ANSIRH) has been named winner of the 2005 Olivia Schieffelin Nordberg Award for excellence in writing and editing in the population sciences. The Award will be presented at a reception at the Population Council in New York in June. Dr. Stewart writes about both the science and the values of the population field. Without sacrificing rigor, she makes scientific material accessible to nonprofessionals. And as an activist she is uniquely sensitive to the social responsibility of scientists and the need for moral clarity in a field often driven by political factions.Populaton Council Press Release
01/05/05
Raine and Harper show that increasing access to Emergency Contraception (EC) does not promote risky sex behavior.
CRHRP researchers publish a much anticipated study in the Journal of the American Medical Association. "Direct Access to Emergency Contraception Through Pharmacies and Effect on Unintended Pregnancy and STIs" reveals that increased access to EC does not lead to increased levels of unprotected sex or sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Please see coverage of this article in USA Today, the Washington Post, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the San Jose Mercury News.
11/17/04
Claire Brindis, DrPH, quoted in The Wall Street Journal
CRHRP Co-Director Dr. Brindis discusses why the U.S. is seeing a drop in teen birth rates. Dr. Brindis addresses the importance of parental eduction about the risks present during the "tranisitonal years" as children enter adolescence and the need for effective pregnancy-prevention programs, citing concern about the effects of "abstinence only" education.
10/18/04
Philip Darney, MD, MSc, and Nancy Padian, PhD, elected to the Institute of Medicine!
CRHRP Co-Founders Phil Darney, MD, MSc, and Nancy Padian, PhD, were elected to the Institute of Medicine. The IOM elected 65 new members, raising the Institute's total active membership to 1,416. Election is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of medicine and health.
08/01/04
Dr. Eleanor Drey -- Best of the Bay!
Dr. Eleanor Drey, Medical Director at the San Francisco General Hospital's Women's Options Center, was deemed a Local Hero in the San Francisco Bay Guardian's Best of the Bay 2004. As the article so aptly puts it, we are "blessed to have Drey, who's a calm yet impassioned advocate for family planning and the clinic's disadvantaged patients, defending an essential medical service that's perpetually under political attack."
07/16/04
Low-tech AIDS defenses studied role of diaphragms, male circumcision, microbicide gels, herpes control tested
CRHRP diaphragm studies and Dr. Michael Chirenje in the San Francisco Chronicle.
05/19/04
Carole Joffe, PhD, selected for SWS Feminist Activist Award
We are pleased to announce that Carole Joffe, PhD, has been selected as the 2005 recipient of the SWS Feminist Activist Award. SWS (Sociologists for Women in Society) is honoring Carole for her dedication and commitment to the issue of reproductive rights for women. The award includes a personal honorarium and a travel budget for a lecture, workshop or training session on activism at two selected campuses in 2005. Carole will be formally presented with the Feminist Activist Award at the American Sociological Association summer meetings this August in San Francisco.
05/10/04
Claire Brindis, DrPH, MPH, in the news
Dr. Claire Brindis featured in "California reduces teen birth rate through sex education" (AP, 5/9/04).
03/31/04
Eleanor Drey, MD, EdM, in the news
Dr. Eleanor Drey interviewed in "Abortion law hits poor hardest, S.F. expert says" (San Francisco Chronicle, 3/31/04).
03/10/04
Suneeta Krishnan, PhD, and WGHI's International Women's Day Briefing in the news
Dr. Suneeta Krishnan and WGHI featured in "Inequality called key in AIDS gender gap" (San Francisco Chronicle, 3/10/04).
02/25/04