The Center for Population Research, which is organized into three branches, carries out the primary Federal effort in population studies through support of research and research training in the biomedical, behavioral, and social sciences.
Support is provided through grants, contracts, cooperative agreements, and interagency agreements.
In the biomedical sciences, the Center's work is aimed at fundamental reproductive biology and clinical reproductive medicine research relevant to either the male or female, or both. This research is designed to yield information necessary for establishing new methods of diagnosing or treating infertility and for the development of an array of contraceptive methods that are safe, effective, inexpensive, preferably reversible, and acceptable to various population groups. Research on contraceptive methods that will reduce the spread of sexually transmitted diseases is an important part of the Center's overall mission. Another component of its mission is to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of contraceptive methods currently in use along with other drugs, devices, and surgical procedures affecting reproductive health.