Pushing the frontiers of science: reflections on an Institute of Medicine study

A women-centered contraceptive research agenda was the focus of a 1996 Institute of Medicine Committee report. Priority was given to research on methods that act as a chemical or physical barrier to conception and to STDs including HIV; to menses inducers and once-per-month methods; and to male contraceptive methods. Much progress has been made since the 1996 report. This paper summarizes this progress. New research has been developed in the three priority areas, collaboration activities have been developed between the public and private sectors, and emergency contraception has been introduced to the US. Controversies are discussed in relation to immunocontraception, stem cell research and fetal tissue research. Finally there is a brief report on the lessons to be learned from the experience of the introduction of the implant, Norplant, in the US.