Academic Programs

Paula Castano, MD, MPH

Students and recent graduates at the Mailman School of Public Health submitted a record nine abstracts to the annual Reproductive Health 2010 conference; and all nine were accepted for presentation, including five to be presented orally. Eight of the research papers were first-authored by current or recent Mailman School students from either the Department of Epidemiology or the Heilbrunn Department of Population and Family Health.

Reproductive Health is the preeminent conference on reproductive health, sponsored jointly by the Association of Reproductive Health Professionals (ARHP), Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA), and the Society of Family Planning (SFP). Session topics include new research and clinical practice issues related to contraception, abortion, menopause, sexuality, and reproductive genetics. Held annually, this year's three-day meeting will take place in Atlanta on September 22-25th.

This Year's Participants and Projects

The group of Mailman School students and recent graduates who will be presenting findings from randomized controlled trials includes Aileen Langston, MD, MPH, on "Structured Contraceptive Counseling;" Katharine O'Connell White, MD, MPH, on "The Impact of Pack Supply on Oral Contraceptive Continuation;" and Paula Castaño, MD, MPH, "Txt Now 2 Decrease Pregnancies L8r" to evaluate the effect of daily educational text messages on oral contraceptive continuation in young urban women; Jacqueline Guerrero, MD, MPH '10, who will receive her MPH this May, is presenting on "Music as an Auxiliary Analgesic During First Trimester Surgical Abortion."

Posters will be presented by Noa'a Shimoni, MD, MPH, on a randomized trial of "Immediate versus delayed insertion of the CuT380A following medication abortion." Anne Davis, MD, MPH, on "Carbamazepine co-adminstration with a low dose oral contraceptive: effects on pharmackinetics, bleeding and ovulation;" Anupama Torgal, MPH, Elizabeth Rose Mayeda, MPH, Monica Dragoman, MD, MPH, on "Ovarian follicular development during six week extended use of a single contraceptive vaginal ring" and "Ovarian suppression in normal-weight and obese women using a  contraceptive vaginal ring." Dr. Castaño also will present her poster on "Women's attitudes and behaviors toward unplanned pregnancy a prospective study."

The SFP Board Meeting and Awards Dinner also is taking place at the time of the Conference  and features presentation of two annual awards. The Society of Family Planning Lifetime Achievement Award is being presented to Carolyn Westhoff, MD, Mailman School professor of epidemiology, population and family health and professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons. The Allan Rosenfield Award for Lifetime Contributions to International Family Planning is named for the late Dr. Rosenfield, the former dean of the Mailman School of Public Health and one of the foremost scholars in the field of reproductive health.