Bixby Center In the News - Archive

Family AIDS Care and Education Services (FACES), was founded in Kenya in 2004.  It is a joint clinical and research program, co-directed by Craig Cohen, MD, MPH, professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at UCSF, and Elizabeth Bukusi, MBChB, MD, PhD of the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI).

FACES clinics offer HIV testing, counseling and treatment services, and to date, has served more than 75,000 Kenyans.  For those in need, the program provides free antiretroviral medicines. The health and well-being of people living in the Kenyan communities served by FACES has measurably improved.

While the program has been a tremendous success, its growth poses new challenges. One example is “loss to follow-up”—patients who have been diagnosed with HIV but do not come back for antiretroviral medicine. At FACES, the loss to follow-up rate is around 30 percent. Clinic workers have been making special efforts to track down the patients and, if possible, get them back into treatment.

New research led by Dr. Cohen suggests that malaria infection might increase women's susceptibility to HIV and AIDS. This could be part of the explanation for sub-Saharan Africa’s higher rate of HIV, and suggests a new avenue for FACES clinical care.  

Craig Cohen MD, MPH provides commentary to allAfrica.com about his recent research, which suggests that Malaria infection might increase women's susceptibility to HIV and AIDS.

Dan Grossman, MD, FACOG, along with colleague Joseph E. Potter, PhD published "Potter, Grossman: Make birth control available to immigrants" (9/3/2010) in Statesman, an Austin, TX newspaper.

In the San Francisco Chronicle editorial "End practice of shackling pregnant inmates," (8/26/2010) Dr. Carolyn Sufrin writes in support of California AB1900; if passed, this legislation would mandate that pregnant inmates incur the least restrictive forms of restraint as possible. You can also read Lois Kazakoff's response to Dr. Sufrin's editorial, here.

ANSIRH’s Lori Freedman, PhD, has found a gap between physician willingness to provide abortion care and their ability to offer these services.  In Willing and Unable: Doctors’ Constraints in Abortion Care, Dr. Freedman explores this gap.  Freedman interviewed 30 obstetrician-gynecologists who received abortion training in their residency programs; of those 30 physicians, 18 wanted to provide abortion care, but only three were able to do so. Freedman found that these doctors encountered a variety of structural barriers, including senior members of a group practice who disallowed abortion care. Intimidated by “the stigma and contention surrounding abortion” (RealityCast), many group practices are unwilling to provide abortion, sending patients to free-standing clinics such as Planned Parenthood, instead. Although abortion is the most common medical procedure for women of reproductive age, refusal to offer abortion care within the context of routine medical care reinforces this stigma and contention.

Freedman’s book is an important addition to the many voices of the abortion debate.  Her work steps above the oft-quoted ethical and religious tropes and highlights the systematic barriers—both objective and subjective—that preclude obstetrician gynecologists from providing abortion care.  Read more about the book in Slate Magazine and on the Our Bodies Ourselves blog.

Craig Cohen, MD, MPH and Elizabeth Bukusi, MBChB, MD, MPH, PhD, Co-Directors of FACES (Family AIDS Care and Educational Services), which is a collaboration between the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) and UCSF, were featured on the front page of the San Francisco Chronicle in "UCSF-Kenyan team helps guide country out of HIV" (Sovern, 7/5/10) as well as in a KCBS radio news story titled "AIDS in Africa: Faces of Hope". FACES has been in operation in Kenya since September of 2004 and its treatment and prevention efforts have drastically improved the health and well-being of people living in numerous Kenyan communities.

Several Bixby Center investigators have received 2010 Society of Family Planning grant awards. Congratulations to Cynthia Harper, PhD, Tracy Weitz, PhD, MPA, Carole Joffe, PhD, Jillian Henderson, PhD, MPH, Jody Steinauer, MD, MAS, and Julia Steinberg, PhD!

Lori Freedman, PhD, MA, discusses her recent article "Obstacles to the Integration of Abortion Into Obstetrics and Gynecology Practice" in Ms. and Salon magazines. The article (co-authored with Drs. Uta Landy, Phil Darney and Jody Steinauer in Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, available online 5/24/10), which draws attention to the systematic barriers that obstetrician-gynecologists face in regards to abortion provision, is also discussed on RH Reality Check.

Janet Turan, PhD, MPH, is the 2010 recipient of the Pathways to Discovery Mentor Award. The Pathways to Discovery Program helps motivated students from the School of Medicine, School of Nursing, School of Dentistry, and School of Pharmacy develop knowledge, skills, and experiences that will help them contribute to the health community beyond individual patient care.

Suellen Miller, PhD, RN, CNM, MHA, and the Lifewrap are featured as "Trailblazers for Good" on Care2.com, a web-based organization that seeks to harness internet use for good.

In the face of oral contraception's 50-year history, Dan Grossman, MD, advocates for an over-the-counter future in USA Today's article "The pill: 50 years of birth control changed women's lives" (Rubin, 5/7/10).

Dr. Grossman, along with colleagues at the University of Texas, are studying oral contraceptive use along the US-Mexico border, where American women have the option of obtaining pills over the counter in Mexican pharmacies. For more information, see Dr. Grossman's recent article "Clinic Versus Over-the-Counter Access to Oral Contraception: Choices Women Make Along the US-Mexico Border" (American Journal of Public Health, 4/15/10).

Tracy Weitz, PhD, MPA, Director of ANSIRH, discusses the passage of two Nebraska measures that restrict abortion in “Misusing Science Risks Women’s Health” (Weitz, 4/28/10).

Prof. Tracy Weitz, PhD, MPA, Director of ANSIRH, responds to the passage of two Nebraska measures that restrict abortion on the Rachel Maddow Show (MSNBC, 4/14/10).

In recognition of her distinguished career dedicated to reproductive health scholarship, teaching, publishing, and activism, Prof. Carole Joffe will be honored with the Irvin M. Cushner Lectureship at Reproductive Health 2010. For more information about the annual meeting awards, click here.

Congratulations to Bixby Center Co-Director, Philip Darney, MD, MSc, who has been selected as the faculty recipient of the 2010 Chancellor's Award for the Advancement of Women. For more information, see "Chancellor to Present Advancement of Women Award on March 22" (UCSF Today, 3/17/10) and the Office of the Chancellor's website.

Prof. Tracy Weitz, PhD, MPA, Director of ANSIRH, responds to Rep. Bart Stupak's effort to prohibit federal funding of abortion services within the Affordable Health Care for America Act on the Rachel Maddow Show (clip here) (MSNBC, 3/17/10).

Kate Cosby, MPH, discusses women's experiences with abortion in "Outing Abortion, From Town Halls to Twitter" (Kliff, 3/3/10).

Kathryn Phillips, PhD, Dan Grossman, MD, Tracy Weitz, PhD, MPA, and James Trussell, PhD (Princeton University) examine the impact of the proposed abortion coverage restrictions in the health care reform legislation in "Abortion Coverage and Health Reform: Bringing Evidence To Bear" (Health Affairs Blog, 1/13/10).

For more about the multi-campus UC Global Health Institute and the three 'Centers of Expertise' see "New Center Focuses on Women’s Health and Empowerment on Global Scale" (UCSF Today, 12/28/09)

Claire Brindis, DrPH, featured in "Senate Weighs Abortion Amendment in Health Bill" (KPIX-TV, CBS 5, 12/7/09).

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) has issued new guidelines for cervical cancer screening. Dr. George Sawaya's studies on the benefits and risks of cervical cancer screening were instrumental in these new recommendations.

For more information, see Dr. Sawaya's editorial "Cervical Cancer Screening — New Guidelines and the Balance between Benefits and Harms" (The New England Journal of Medicine, 11/25/09), the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences news page, which includes links to additional media coverage, and "New Guidelines on Pap Tests Draw from UCSF Expert’s Findings" (UCSF Science Cafe, 12/2/09).

Craig Cohen, MD, MPH, M. Catherine Maternowska, PhD, MPH, and the Family AIDS Care and Education Services (FACES) Program featured in AIDS In Africa: Faces of Hope (KCBS, 11/18/09). FACES is an HIV/AIDS care and treatment program in Western Kenya and Nairobi. The 22-minute radio documentary is available online here.

Claire Brindis, DrPH, MPH, discusses the nuances of health care policy and reform in "Policy Expert Brindis Takes the Pulse of Health Care Reform Efforts" (UCSF Today, 9/23/09).

M. Catherine Maternowska, PhD, MPH, discusses her experience in Swaziland in "Truck-Stop Girls" (8/18/09) in a special issue of The New York Times Magazine, "Saving the World's Women."

Dr. J. Joseph Speidel will be awarded the Allan Rosenfield Award for Lifetime Contributions to International Family Planning. The Society of Family Planning gives this annual award to individuals who have made invaluable contributions to the health of women worldwide. Dr. Speidel will receive this award at Reproductive Health 2009 in September.

After serving as the acting and interim director, Dr. Claire Brindis is appointed director of the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies. For more information, please see the UCSF Today announcement. Congratulations, Dr. Brindis!

Dr. Claire Brindis discusses parental involvement and comprehensive sex education in "Local Teens Talk About Porn" (Lussenhop, 5/21/09).

"Former Marin midwife saving the lives of mothers in Africa" (Halstead, 5/9/09) discusses the LifeWrap and the international work of Suellen Miller, PhD, RN, CNM, MHA.

Suellen Miller, PhD, RN, CNM, MHA's work with the LifeWrap for obstetric hemorrhage is featured in "Science for Us, but Also for the World" (Berkley, 5/7/09) and Dying to Give Life (Abrams, 5/26/09).

Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health (PRCH) honors Dr. Philip Darney with the 2009 Kenneth J. Ryan, MD, Physician Leadership Award for his commitment to women's health.

George F. Sawaya, MD, and co-authors Chirenje MZ, Magure MT, Tuveson JL, Ma Y, Shiboski SC, Da Costa MM, Palefsky JM, Moscicki AB, Mutasa RM, Chipato T, Smith-McCune KK, were awarded the 2008 Roy M. Pitkin Award for their paper, “Effect of diaphragm and lubricant gel provision on human papillomavirus infection among women provided with condoms: a randomized control trial” (Obstetrics & Gynecology 2008; 112: 990-997).

According to Obstetrics and Gynecology, “the Roy M. Pitkin Award was established in 1998 to honor departments of obstetrics and gynecology that promote and demonstrate excellence in research. The award consists of a $5,000 unrestricted grant presented to each department whose faculty, fellows, or residents published 1 of the 4 most outstanding manuscripts in Obstetrics & Gynecology during the past year. We recognize both the authors and the departments for the quality of the research and publication of the results.”

Dr. Claire Brindis discusses the federal court order for over-the-counter sale of Plan B^® emergency contraception to be expanded to 17-year-old women (KGO News Talk 810 AM, 4/22/09). For more information about Plan B^®, see the FDA website.

Congratulations to Dr. Claire Brindis for receiving the 2009 UCSF Chancellor's Award for the Advancement of Women. See Dr. Brindis's remarks and the complete list of award recipients. 

Dr. Sara Newmann is one of 13 UCSF faculty members to receive the 2009-2010 UCSF Hellman Family Award for Early-Career Faculty. The Hellman Award provides support to outstanding junior faculty members, who have demonstrated promise and creativity in their research or other scholarly activities.

The New Generation Health Center and its collaborative project, Glass to Diamonds, are featured in "UCSF Partners with Community to Inform Teens About Reproductive Health" (12/12/08). The Glass to Diamonds project seeks to highlight issues of access to reproductive health care for young women.

Transcript and radio clip available here: "Prop. 4: Parental Notification for Teenage Abortion" (CPR, 10/7/08).

Dr. Justin Diedrich, Family Planning Research Coordinator, selected to receive the Preserving Core Values in Science Award at Reproductive Health 2008.

Dr. Maternowska's book, Reproducing Inequities: Poverty and the Politics of Population in Haiti (Rutgers University Press), reviewed in "The Strange History of Birth Control" (Epstein, 8/14/08).  

Dr. Darney participates on a panel addressing teen pregnancy and birthrates in California and the nation. Radio program achrived here: "Teen Birthrate" (KQED Forum, 5/22/08).

A CDC study published in the Journal of Adolescent Health concluded that sex education increased the likelihood that teens would delay sex. Dr. Claire Brindis explains to Science Daily that sex education is needed to counter the "mythology" around sex; teach anatomy, physiology and contraception; and give teens ways of dealing wisely with sexually risky situations.

The UCSF News Office reports that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has given UCSF researchers nearly $1.4 million to expand African research trials on the non-pneumatic anti-shock garment (NASG).  The director of Safe Motherhood Programs, Dr. Suellen Miller, hopes the NASG will help to reduce maternal mortality worldwide.

Dr. Claire Brindis discusses the factors that lead to the 19 million STD infections diagnosed each year in the United States in "Breaking the silence" (CNN, 12/5/07).

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 education in schools in contrast to Texas, which promotes an abstinence-only curriculum. Dr. Brindis's 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's 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 

This October, UCSF faculty members associated with the Bixby Center 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 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.

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.

Suellen Miller, PhD, RN, CNM, MHA, speaks about using the low-tech NASG to reduce maternal mortality and save women's lives on 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).

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 & Gynecology, in an e-mailed response to the reporter's inquiry. "Shots assist in aborting fetuses" (Goldberg, 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.

Dr. Darney weighs in on the re-released contraceptive, the Today Sponge, in The New York Times article, "Good News, Elaine: The Sponge Is Back, With a More Modern Approach" (Levere, 7/30/07).

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 (Bhandari, 7/25/2007)
• "Scoop" World (7/25/07)
• Trinidad & Tobago Express
• A video of the plenary, as well as Dr. Padian's slides, can be accessed on Kaisernetwork.org

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.

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, 2007 Jul 21;370(9583):251-61), was widely covered by the following media outlets:

• The Wall Street Journal (Chase, 7/13/07)
  
• San Francisco Chronicle (Russell, 7/13/07)
  
• Science Magazine (Cohen, 7/27/07)
• Deutsche Presse-Agentur
• WebMD (Hitti, 7/12/07)
• Reuters (7/12/07)
• BBC (Bryant, 7/31/07)
• The UCSF News Release is available here (Sheehy, 7/12/07)
• The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine interviewed Dr. Padian about what comes next for HIV prevention trials (podcast)

Dr. Claire Brindis discusses the importance of comprehensive sex education in the San Francisco Chronicle article "Abstinence-only sex ed finds few scientific fans" (Weiss, 2/11/07). Even in California — which has seen the second largest decline in teen pregnancy 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.

Claire Brindis, DrPH, and Tina Raine-Bennett, MD, MPH, speak about the sexuality-related issues that teens face in the San Francisco Chronicle article, "THE MODERN AGE: Generation Confused" (Boerner, 2/11/07).

George Sawaya, MD, speaks about Pap and HPV testing in The New York Times article, "Pap Test, A Mainstay Against Cervical Cancer, May Be Fading" (Pollack, 1/16/07).

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, 2005;19(3):267-289). The Polgar Prize is awarded annually for the best paper published in SMA’s journal Medical Anthropology Quarterly.

See "UCSF Conference on Women and AIDS" (Melendez, 9/21/06) for an article and video featuring Dr. Nancy Padian and the UCSF AIDS conference.

Drs. Cynthia Harper and Carole Joffe discuss the potential impact of Plan B emergency contraception going over-the-counter in a San Francisco Chronicle article, "Wider access to pill changes everything" (Nevius, 8/25/06).

Tina Raine, MD, discusses emergency contraception and unintended pregnancy in The New York Times article "F.D.A. Approved Broader Access to Next-Day Pill" (Harris, 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 the FDA webpage for more information about Plan B.

Dr. Suellen Miller discusses preventing maternal death during childbirth with the non-pneumatic anti-shock garment (NASG) on Mother Jones Radio.

Philip Darney, MD, MSc, was quoted in The Washington Post's article "Period: Full Stop?" (Payne, 6/6/06) which discusses the continuous use of hormonal contraception (e.g., birth control pills, the patch, or the vaginal ring).

Drs. Dean Jamison and Nancy Padian discuss the book, Disease Control Priorities in Developing Countries (2nd Edition), in "Where AIDS Funding Should Go" (The Washington Post, 5/20/06). The article details the book's five conclusions "that are either opposed by the U.S. government or that recommend strategies that the United States is not using."

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).

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."

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 The New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof. 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.

"First aid for obstetric haemorrhage: the pilot study of the non-pneumatic anti-shock garment in Egypt" (British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 2006;113(4):424-9) finds that the NASG — a reusable neoprene suit — shows promise for management of obstetric haemorrhage, particularly in lower resource settings. Haemorrhaging is a leading cause of maternal deaths worldwide. See news coverage in"Reusable Suit Could Save Lives During Childbirth" (Los Angeles Times, 3/4/06)

"A new tool in keeping women HIV free" (Graves & Miller, 11/9/05) highlights the importance of microbicide research for HIV prevention, especially in contexts where women lack control over sexual decision-making.

"Plan B: A Collision of Science and Politics" (Couzin, 10/7/05) highlights the emergency contraception research of Cynthia Harper, PhD, and Tina Raine, MD, MPH.

Dr. Claire Brindis was quoted in several news articles discussing the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics's recent report "Sexual Behavior and Selected Health Measures: Men and Women 15-44 Years of Age, United States, 2002" (9/15/05).

See coverage in The Washington Post (Stepp, 9/16/05), Los Angeles Times (Maugh, 9/16/05), and TIME Magazine (Lemonick, 9/19/05).

"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:

• New York Times (Grady, 8/24/05)

• Washington Post (8/24/05)

• Los Angeles Times (Maugh, 8/24/05)

• San Francisco Chronicle (Hall, 8/24/05)

Philip Darney, MD, MSc, interviewed in "Abortion Pill Investigated in Four California Deaths" (La Ganga, 8/15/05).

Nancy Padian, PhD, MPH, discusses her study examining the diaphragm as a means to prevent HIV in "HIV/AIDS: Prevention Cocktails: Combining Tools to Stop HIV's Spread" (Cohen, 8/12/05).

In the powerful "Lives" feature "Haiti Eyes" (7/24/05), Dr. Maternowska describes her life-threatening experience in Haiti, where she has done public health work for 22 years.

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, from the Office of Science and Technology Policy, 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.

Dr. Felicia H. Stewart, Co-Director of the Center 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. 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. The Award will be presented at a Population Council reception in New York in June.

In "Direct Access to Emergency Contraception Through Pharmacies and Effect on Unintended Pregnancy and STIs" (Journal of the American Medical Association, 1/5/2005), Tina Raine, MD, MPH, Cynthia Harper, PhD, et al. show that increased access to EC does not lead to increased levels of unprotected sex or sexually transmitted infections (STIs). For news coverage of this article, please see pieces in USA Today (Rubin, 1/4/05), the Washington Post (Kaufman, 1/5/05), the San Francisco Chronicle (Buchanan, 1/5/05), and the San Jose Mercury News (1/5/05).

Dr. Claire Brindis discusses the drop in teen birth rates and the need for effective pregnancy prevention programs in "As Teen Births Drop, Experts Are Asking Why" (McKay & Carrns, 11/17/04).

Congratulations to Center Co-Founders Philip Darney, MD, MSc, and Nancy Padian, PhD, MPH, who 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.

Dr. Eleanor Drey, Medical Director of 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."

Center diaphragm studies and Dr. Chirenje in "Low-tech AIDS defenses studied: Role of diaphragms, male circumcision, microbicide gels, herpes control tested" (San Francisco Chronicle, 7/16/04).

We are pleased to announce that Prof. Carole Joffe has been selected as the 2005 recipient of the Sociologists for Women in Society (SWS) Feminist Activist Award. SWS is honoring Prof. Joffe for her dedication and commitment to the issue of reproductive rights for women. She will be presented with the award at the American Sociological Association summer meeting this August.

Dr. Claire Brindis featured in "California reduces teen birth rate through sex education" (AP, 5/9/04).

Dr. Drey discusses the impact of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003 in "Abortion law hits poor hardest, S.F. expert says" (Egelko, 3/31/04).

Dr. Krishnan and the Women's Global Health Imperative (WGHI) featured in "Inequality called key in AIDS gender gap" (Russell, 3/10/04).

Center Co-Founder, Nancy Padian, PhD, MPH, and the Shaping the Health of Adolescents in Zimbabwe (SHAZ) program featured in "Saying No to 'Sugar Daddies'" (Chase, 2/25/04).