RELEASE ON RECEIPT






                                                     CONTACT: Marguerite Beck

	CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA., Nov. 18 -- The University of Virginia School of 
Medicine is one of five sites in the country chosen to participate in an 
international program for developing countries concerned with population 
issues.  The program is sponsored by the Fogarty International Center (FIC) 
and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) of 
the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
	Supported by a grant of approximately $650,000 over five years, U.Va. 
scientists from the medical school's Center for Recombinant Gamete 
Contraceptive Vaccinogens will provide advanced training in reproductive biology and contraceptive development to scientists from India.
	"With a population of almost a billion people, India has an enormous 
interest in training more scientists in reproductive biology and helping 
them move their research findings toward new contraceptive options," 
said John Herr, director of the Center, which is working to isolate and test 
sperm and egg molecules that might be candidates for developing  
contraceptive immunizations.
	"This new program will allow four to five postdoctoral fellows and 
faculty to come to U.Va. or the collaborating institutions that comprise our 
Center -- the University of North Carolina, Northwestern University and 
Washington University in St. Louis -- for a two- to three year period. It 
also has an outreach component where Center faculty visit Indian universities 
and institutes to give research seminars and discuss the training 
opportunities in reproductive biology and contraceptive vaccine development." 
	The FIC/NICHD program supports projects that 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. This program will enhance domestic population research programs by 
enabling NIH grant recipients to extend the geographic base of their work 
internationally.
	In addition to U.Va., grants were awarded to the University of 
Pennsylvania, University of Michigan, University of North Carolina, the 
Oregon Regional Primate Center at Beaverton and the Oregon Health Sciences 
University.
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	                                       November 17, 1995