News in Brief

Med Center Receives Research Grant for Natural Family Planning

Georgetown University Medical Center’s Institute for Reproductive Health has received a three-year award from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Population Affairs to further the institute’s groundbreaking research on natural family planning.

The $600,000 award will enable researchers not only to make natural family planning methods accessible for Title X clients, but also “to test strategies to overcome barriers that limit the availability and use of natural family planning methods by individuals who get their health care through this government-funded program,” according to a medical center press release.

The institute’s researchers remain the only group to have developed natural methods of family planning that have proven successful in both clinical trials and worldwide implementation, the press release stated. One example is the Standard Days Method, which was proven, in a 2002 study, to be more effective than the diaphragm or condom in preventing pregnancy. The Standard Days Method identifies the 12-day “fertile window” of a woman’s menstrual cycle, which enables a woman to know whether pregnancy is likely on any given day. Institute researchers also developed visual device called CycleBeads to facilitate the monitoring of menstrual cycles.

Rebecka Lundgren, deputy director and director of research at the institute, will be the principal investigator of the new grant.

Victoria Jennings, director of the Institute for Reproductive Health, said that the institute has long focused on “feasible, culturally-appropriate ways” to promote natural family planning methods and that this grant will only help expand that work.

“We have touched the lives of literally millions of people in developing countries, but our opportunities to work … have been limited by the focus of our funding. This grant is an important step toward helping women,” Jennings said in the press release. — Shuo Yan Tan

Rape Prevention Defense Program

As crime rates continue to rise on campus, students will soon be able to learn methods of defense.

Introduced in early September at a safety open forum, the Rape Aggression Defense program will be made available next fall to students, faculty and staff through a combined effort by GUSA, the Department of Public Safety and Health Education Services.

According to its Web site, the RAD program trains individuals to physically defend themselves and to maintain a defensive mindset in potentially dangerous situations.

Student association Senator Tyler Stone (COL ’09) said the university hopes to offer the program as a unique one-credit course for the 2009 fall semester.

“Right now [the RAD program] is kind of fluid,” Stone said, adding that the course would assume a unique identity at Georgetown based on contributions from the Health Education Center and its counselors.

DPS officers will by trained by RAD instructors to teach the course. Organizers hope that the program will drift away from its typically exclusive female focus.

“If there is significant growth in the program, we would like to expand it to include the adjacent community, males and children,” said DPS Crime Prevention Coordinator Sgt. Joseph Smith.

At last week’s meeting, the GUSA senate voted to give DPS $900 to help offset the cost of the training program and equipment, which according to the RAD Web site can cost up to $7000.

“The reality is that DPS and the Metropolitan Police Department aren’t there [all the time] and the more we can equip students to look after themselves, the better it is for the rest of campus,” Stone said. — Natalie Sykes