CORVALLIS, Ore. - Oregon State University professor Marie Harvey has been given the 2008 Carl S. Shultz Award for Outstanding Lifetime Achievement from the American Public Health Association's Population, Family Planning and Reproductive Health Section.

The award, the highest recognition given by the section, recognizes the commitment and contributions Harvey has made to the field of sexual and reproductive health, including research, teaching, and mentorship to other faculty members, researchers and students.

She was honored at an awards ceremony in San Diego this week.

Harvey, who chairs the OSU Department of Public Health, is a researcher whose work has focused on the social, psychological, and cultural aspects of sexual and reproductive health. She is a founder of the Pacific Institute for Women's Health in Los Angeles and a member of the board of directors for the Oregon Public Health Association.

Throughout her career, she has focused on the reproductive health of women and began her work on the frontlines as a social worker and family planning counselor. Harvey's current research projects are focused on understanding the factors that contribute to increased risks of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, and to unintended pregnancy, including relationship dynamics as well as cultural and social determinants.

Harvey is involved in two studies, one funded by the Centers for Disease Control and the other by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Population Affairs, that examine sexual risk behavior and contraception use among Latinos in rural Oregon.

"It was a bit sobering to receive a lifetime achievement award, I didn't know I was on that side of my life," Harvey said, laughing. "This award is particularly meaningful because it is from the members of the Population, Family Planning and Reproductive Health Section of APHA. Not only does the section value research but more importantly, the members are dedicated to using evidenced-based research to promote policies, programs and services to bring about change, to make a difference, to bring reproductive rights to all men and women."

Harvey said she was proud that her mentoring work with junior faculty, researchers and students was part of the reason for the award.

"Mentoring the next generation of individuals who will work to improve the sexual and reproductive health of men and women is extremely important and meaningful to me," she said.

The American Public Health Association is the oldest, largest and most diverse organization of public health professionals in the world and has been working to improve public health since 1872.

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Marie Harvey,
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