Oregon scientist investigates safety, effectiveness of novel low-cost family-planning option

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funds innovative OHSU study of nonsurgical family planning option for women in developing countries where physicians are scarce

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded nationally prominent Oregon Health & Science University reproductive scientist Jeffrey T. Jensen, M.D., M.P.H., a $100,000 grant to investigate the safety and effectiveness of a novel low-cost family-planning option that may be applicable to women in low-resource countries worldwide.

"The commitment by the Gates Foundation to place family planning as a major priority for funding has been a big boost to investigators in this field. A safe, low-cost method of permanent female sterilization would meet the needs of many women worldwide and have a major impact on reducing total fertility rates and poverty," said Jensen, Leon Speroff Professor and Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, OHSU School of Medicine; and affiliate scientist in reproductive science at the OHSU Oregon National Primate Research Center.

Jensen is one of 65 investigators in 16 countries to receive funding in the fifth round of Grand Challenges Explorations, an initiative to help scientists around the world explore bold and largely unproven ways to improve health in developing countries. The initiative is highly competitive, receiving more than 2,400 proposals in this round.

To receive funding, Jensen demonstrated how his idea falls outside current scientific paradigms and might lead to significant advances in global health. He proposed that a highly effective and low-cost technique of nonsurgical female sterilization could be easily administered by non-physician health care workers and provide a game-changing family planning strategy well suited to the needs of women in low resource settings like south Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, as well as more developed regions. Although several human studies of non-surgical sterilization have been completed, concerns regarding safety and efficacy have hampered development.

With this grant, Jensen will use a nonhuman primate model, the rhesus macaque, to investigate whether the transcervical administration - through the cervix or opening of the uterus - of polidocanol foam will result in permanent closure of the fallopian tube and infertility. Polidocanol is an FDA-approved agent currently used to treat varicose and spider veins. It works by causing excess connective tissue to form within the cell lining of blood vessels, collapsing and closing the vessels.

"Use of the rhesus macaque model will allow for extensive study of this method to ensure both safety and efficacy. If successful, the results could be rapidly translated into human clinical trials," explained Jensen.

"These are bold ideas from innovative thinkers, which is exactly what we need in global health research right now, " said Tachi Yamada, M.D., president of the Gates Foundation's Global Health Program. "I'm excited to see some of these daring projects develop into life-saving breakthroughs for those who need them the most."