Published September 23, 2015
Sex education classes are usually thought of in the realm of uncomfortable lessons in high school health classes, but one university is offering an online course for first-year students, which the school says is the first of its kind in higher education.
Northwestern University, in Evanston, Ill., will launch its “Introduction to Reproduction” online class on September 28.
“Most students entering college don’t have a good understanding of their own reproductive or sexual health,” Teresa Woodruff, vice chair for research in obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, who created the class, said in a news release. “Having sex is not the same thing as knowing how it all works. And most students have issues beyond sex, like changing menstrual cycle lengths and questions about exercise and testosterone levels. They need to know because it impacts their health. This class fills a huge gap.”
Teresa WoodruffDr. Woodruff is the Thomas J. Watkins Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University.
Katherine L. Wisner, MD, MS, was notified that Northwestern University will receive funding for her NICHD U54 Center grant “Optimizing Medication Management for Mothers with Depression (OPTI-MOM).” Northwestern will be one of three Obstetric Fetal Pharmacology Research Centers, with the other sites being University of Pittsburgh and University of Texas Medical Branch/Galvestion. Dr. Wisner will serve as the PI on this grant along with obstetrician Catherine S. Stika, MD and pharmacology Chair Alfred L. George, MD. The overarching goal of this study is to develop evidence to construct guidelines for the optimal use of SSRI antidepressants in pregnant women. The team will monitor changes in plasma SSRI and metabolite concentrations across pregnancy and postpartum in conjunction with measurement of depressive and anxiety symptoms as well as side effects.