Peterson presents Cushner Lecture at ACOG annual meeting

Photograph of Dr. Herbert Peterson

Dr. Herbert B. Peterson, professor and chair of the Department of Maternal and Child Health, delivered the 2007 Irvin M. Cushner Memorial Lecture May 8 at the annual meeting of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) in San Diego, CA.

His presentation, titled “Global Family Planning at the Dawn of the 21^st Century,” provided an overview of global family planning programs and practices in the context of three major sets of objectives – the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals, the World Health Organization’s first Global Strategy on Reproductive Health, and the Program of Action devised by the International Conference on Population and Development.

Peterson long has been an advocate for women’s health issues, especially sexual and reproductive health for women around the world. Before he joined the School of Public Health faculty in 2004, he held various research and administrative positions with the World Health Organization, U.S. Public Health Service and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention over the course of more than 20 years. He also held joint professorships in the Schools of Medicine at University of North Carolina (1994-2004) and Emory University in Atlanta, Ga. (1994-2002).

A Distinguished Service Medal he received in 1999 from the U.S. Public Health Service recognized his “exemplary service in providing visionary leadership and in conducting and translating reproductive health science to promote national and international health.”

Peterson currently holds joint appointments in the Schools of Public Health and Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is a fellow at the Cecil B. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at UNC.

Dr. Irvin M. Cushner (1924 – 1986) was internationally recognized for his contributions to women’s health care. Trained at Mt. Sinai Hospital and Johns Hopkins University Schools of Medicine and Public Health, he was chief of the division of women’s health in the School of Medicine and professor in the School of Public Health at University of California – Los Angeles. He served as deputy assistant secretary for population affairs in the Department of Health, Education and Welfare during the presidency of Jimmy Carter.

The Cushner Memorial Lecture, established in 1993, addresses a pressing health care issue, especially as it pertains to reproductive health and related public welfare issues. The presenter is someone who has raised public awareness of the issue and inspired public policy debate.

UNC School of Public Health contact: Ramona DuBose, (919) 966-7467 or ramona_dubose@unc.edu.