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Date: October 20, 1995
For Release: Immediate
Contact: NIH/FIC (301) 496-2075
Initial Awards Are Announced under
International Training and Research in
Population and Health Program
Bethesda, MD. -- The Fogarty International Center (FIC) and
the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
(NICHD) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announce the
funding of initial awards under a jointly sponsored International
Training and Research in Population and Health Program.
Seven awards have been made to U.S. universities to support
international training and research programs in population-related
sciences for scientists and health professionals from developing
countries concerned with population issues. Funded projects
include research and training programs in areas related to
reproductive processes, contraceptive development, contraceptive
and reproductive evaluation, reproduction epidemiology, and social
and behavioral factors that influence population dynamics. The
programs will enhance domestic population research programs by
enabling NIH grant recipients to extend the geographic base of
their work internationally.
Support for these institutional grants will total
approximately 1 million dollars per year over the next five years,
and will be shared by FIC and NICHD. The FIC administers the
program on behalf of both organizations.
Dr. Philip Schambra, Director of the FIC, and Dr. Duane
Alexander, Director of the NICHD, announced the awards. They noted
that the United Nations Population Division projects that world
population will increase to 8.5 billion over the next 35 years. Of
the projected increase of some 3.2 billion, it is estimated that
less than 200 million will occur in industrialized countries; at
least 3 billion, or 95%, will be in the less developed countries.
In addition, by the year 2025, 16 of the most populous cities will
be situated in the developing world. This trend has significant
ramifications for global health, they emphasized, and may lead to
pollution and worsening sanitation, the spread and emergence of
infectious diseases, over-exploitation of land, destruction of
natural ecosystems, unemployment, and inadequate access to health
care and education. Schambra and Alexander expressed their hope
that these awards will assist to train a cadre of research and
health professionals in developing nations who may contribute to
the development of population policies that are based on scientific
information, and consonant with societal mores and values in the
home countries.
The following universities were successful applicants in the
first review cycle under this program:
- The University of Pennsylvania (Principal Investigator,
Dr. Jane A. Menken) will collaborate with institutions in
Mexico, Uganda, South Africa and Bangladesh on projects that
focus on social and behavioral effects of migration, health
and survival, fertility and economic status, and the effect of
fertility change on mortality;
- The University of Pennsylvania (Principal Investigator Dr.
Jerome F. Strauss) will establish collaborative programs with
institutions in Latin America on projects related to
reproductive biology;
- The University of Michigan, Population Studies Center
(Principal Investigator, Dr. David A. Lam) will establish
collaborative programs with institutions in Thailand, Vietnam,
Nepal and China on projects that focus on social and cultural
determinants of fertility, including family planning, economic
issues and demography;
- The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (Principal
Investigator, Dr. Frank S. French) will collaborate with
institutions in Chile, Kenya, China and Brazil on projects
that focus on reproductive biology;
- The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Carolina
Population Center Principal Investigator, Dr. Ronald R.
Rindfuss) will collaborate with institutions in China, the
Philippines and Thailand on training projects in the social
sciences, and will establish links with the Laboratory for
Reproductive Biology at the University of North Carolina;
- The Oregon Regional Primate Center at Beaverton and the
Oregon Health Sciences University (Principal Investigator, Dr.
Michael P. Conn) will develop programs with institutions in
Mexico on projects concerning reproductive biology,
including studies of non-human primates and neuroendocrinology
research;
- The University of Virginia, Center for Recombinant Gamete
Contraceptive Vaccinogens and other University collaborators
(Principal Investigator, Dr. John C. Herr) will establish a
program with institutions in India related to research in
reproductive biology.
Additional information may be obtained by contacting Dr. Joel
Breman, Deputy Director, Division of International Training and
Research, Fogarty International Center, National Institutes of
Health, Building 31, Room B2C32, 9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD
20892-2220; Phone: 301-496-1653 Fax: 301-402-2056 or e-mail:
jbreman@nih.gov.
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