EVALUATION OF ACTIVITIES OF THE PROGRAM FOR APPLIED RESEARCH ON FERTILITY CONTROL, PARFR, NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY (NOV 1974-JUNE 1976)

RSRCH FOCUSED ON 7 AREAS: FEMALE STERLZTN, FEMALE PHARMACOLOGY, IUD, FEMALE LOCAL METHODS, MALE METHODS, IMMUNOLOGICL APPROACHES & PREGNANCY TERMINATN. FEMALE STERLZTN, EXPECIALLY HYSTEROSCOPY, HAS BEEN STUDIED IN COORDNTD RSRCH INCLUDNG A 1973 WRKSHP, FUNDING FOR PROMISING HYSTEROSCOPIC RSRCHPROJCTS, INITIATN OF HYSTEROSCOPIC REGISTRY TO ASSEMBLE INFO ON WORLDWIDE CLINICAL EXPERIENCE WITH THE METHOD,& A FOLLOW-UP FEMALE STER WRKSHP IN 1975. UTEROTUBAL BLOCKING METHODS ARE UNDERGOING HUMAN TRAILS. ALSO PROMISING IS BLIND TRANSCEICAL APPROACH UTILIZNG MCA, A TISSUE GLUE. LONG-ACTING DRUG DELIV SYSTMS & STUDIES OF NEW PHARMACOLOGICAL AGENTS, 2 OF WHICH, OF 8 STUDIED, ARE VIABLE(AN END-ORGAN SPECIFC CHEMICAL AGENT & AN ANTIGONADOTROPIC EXTRACT OF PINEAL GLAND) & BEING DEVELOPD. STUDIES OF IUD'S USING COPPER & IUD'S RELEASING AN ANTIFIBRINOLYTIC AGENT, EACA, ARE BEING STUDIED. SUPPORT FOR IUD'S OTHER THAN INERT IUD'S HAS BEEN TERMINATD. A FEMALE LOCAL METHOD USING AN ODORLESS COLLAGEN SPONGE & A MALE METHOD OF TRANSCUTANEOUS INJECTN OF SCLEROSING AGENTS INTO THE VAS DEFERENS HAVE BEEN DEEMED PROMISING WITH RSRCH EXTENDED. NEW APPROACHES TO REVERSIBLE MALE CONTRACEPTION ARE ALSO BEING SUPPORTD. WHILE IMMUNOLOGY & PREG TERMIN HAVE BEGUN TO BE SUPPORTD, STUDIES OF ROLE OF ANTIBODIES IN VASECTOMY & VASOVASOSTOMY DESERVE MORE ATTENTN AS ONLY 1 PROJCT STUDYNG POST-COITAL CONTRACEPTIVE EFFECT OF IUD INSERTN HAS BEEN FUNDED. A COLLABORATIVE CLINICAL RSRCH CNTR ESTABLISHED IN AN LDC WILL PROMOTE TESTING OF TECHNOLOGICAL DEVICES & SPREAD THEIR UTILIZATION. PARFR IS TECHNICALLY UNDERSTAFFED AND HAS PRODUCED FEWER PROJECTS THAN HOPED FOR. LDC'S HAVE MADE FEW FUNDABLE PROJECT PROPOSALS. PARFR NEEDS TO ACTIVELY RECRUIT FOREIGNERS STUDYING IN THE US AS POTENTIAL GRANTEES UPON THEIR RETURN TO NATIVE COUNTRIES.