The Population Council disseminates its findings widely to ensure that its research makes a positive difference in people’s lives. Dissemination takes many forms: meetings with policymakers and program managers around the world; presentations and distribution of findings at major public health, social science, and biomedical conferences; media briefings and interviews; publication of books, working papers, and two internationally recognized, peer-reviewed journals, Population and Development Review and Studies in Family Planning; and regular updates and information about programs, projects, and activities on its Web site. In the last 12 months, Council staff members have made presentations in Asia, Africa, North and South America, and Europe, including: In July Council research was presented at 55 sessions during the XV International AIDS Conference in Bangkok, Thailand. At the American Public Health Association’s four-day annual meeting in Washington, DC, in November, 49 Council research studies were discussed at roundtable, panel, and poster sessions. Information about Council research was distributed at both conferences, which drew a combined total of approximately 28,000 delegates from 160 countries. A booklet and video developed for the Carraguard trial (see related article) are both available on the Council’s Web site, as is a presentation co-authored by Council researcher Barbara Friedland on the video production process. These materials also were presented in March at Microbicides 2004 in London and at the Bangkok AIDS Conference. Council immunologist Melissa Pope presented “Dendritic cells and HIV infection” in July at the 5th International Workshop on Oral Health and HIV Disease in AIDS, in Phuket, Thailand, sponsored by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research of the NIH. In August, at the annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Reproduction, andrologist Matthew Hardy discussed “Stress, Behavior, and Reproduction: Neuroendocrine Control of Gonadal Function” at the University of British Columbia/Vancouver. Population Council staff members gave eight presentations at the Global Health Council’s annual conference in Washington in June, with Judith Bruce, program director of the Council’s Gender, Family, and Development Program, addressing a special forum on “Early Marriage: Advancing the Global Agenda.” In late November, Bruce participated in a panel moderated by New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof on the global status of girls, hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations.
Past presentations as well as upcoming events are highlighted at www.popcouncil.org/presentations. With as many as 50,000 visitors a month, the Population Council’s Web site serves as a key forum for disseminating research findings. Currently being upgraded, the redesigned site offers a more intuitive navigation system and more material available in Spanish and French, with pages being added in Arabic. (Return to issue contents)
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