05 Jun SFP Lifetime Achievement Award
Mr. Irving Sivin is the recipient of the SFP (Society of Family Planning) Lifetime Achievement Award. Mr. Sivin’s field is statistics. He worked for 40 years at the Population Council, during which time he produced more than 120 journal articles, book chapters, booklets and one book; all but one of which related to contraception or abortion (the exception dealt with population growth in the 21st century).
Mr. Sivin’s analyses of the effectiveness and safety of drugs and devices in randomized multi-clinic trials were incorporated into New Drug (or Device) Applications submitted to the FDA. US approvals were granted for the Copper T 380A IUD, now called Paragard, in 1984. Approval of the Norplant came in 1990 and of the Jadelle implant in 1996. A multi-clinic international study of a progesterone vaginal ring for contraception during lactation, which Mr. Sivin conducted and analyzed, led to government approval in Chile and other Latin America countries in the late 1990s. Mr. Sivin’s analyses were also integral to efforts to extend the period of use of the Copper T380A and to understanding the safety profile of the Progestasert IUD.
In addition, Mr. Sivin addressed big questions on abortion, working with Dr. Beverly Winikoff on studies of the acceptability, safety, and efficacy of the mifepristone/misoprostol abortion in China, India, Cuba, and the United States.
For his many achievements, Mr. Sivin’s has previously received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Planned Parenthood.
Mr. Sivin served on the Board of Directors of the European Society for Contraception and Reproductive Health Care (ESC) from 2008-2016. He was also elected twice as an Editor of the ESC’s Journal (2010-18).