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John J. Sciarra

Dr. John J. Sciarra, MD, Ph D
Thomas J. Watkins Professor, Northwestern University
Feinberg School of Medicine
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Chicago, Illinois (USA)

John J. Sciarra, MD, Ph D, has served as the Thomas J. Watkins Professor and Chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of Northwestern University Medical School since 1974. He was also chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at both Northwestern University and at the Northwestern Memorial Hospital from 1974 to 2003.

From 1991 to 1994, Dr. Sciarra served as president of the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO), an association representing over 100 member countries. As president, Dr. Sciarra worked on behalf of FIGO's efforts to further maternal and child health worldwide. Dr. Sciarra was the president of the International Association of Supporters of FIGO (SOFIGO), a fund-raising arm of FIGO; he was chairman of the Scientific Program Committee for the FIGO XVth World Congress of Obstetrics and Gynecology that was held in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1997, and was on the Scientific Program Committee for the FIGO XVIth World Congress held in Washington DC in 2000.

His other international positions have included serving as both a member and chairman of the Scientific and Ethical Review Group of the World Health Organization (WHO) Special Program of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction. He also served as chairman of the External Advisory Board for the Carnegie Corporation Project for post-graduate training in obstetrics and gynecology in Ghana, West Africa. He is a past president of the International Society for Gynecologic Endoscopy (ISGE). He is the present treasurer of the new Society of Family Planning.

In 1992, Dr. Sciarra was awarded an honorary degree in surgery and medicine from the University of Genoa. Dr. Sciarra has been awarded honorary memberships in the Italian Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the Israeli Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the Hungarian Society of Gynecologists, the Polish Gynecological Society, the Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Italian Hospitals and the Russian Association of Gynecological Oncology. He was also admitted to the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (London) as a Fellow ad eudem in 1992. Dr. Sciarra has been a frequent guest speaker at international meetings, often speaking on reproductive health issues.

In recent years, he has served as chairman of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) Committee on International Affairs, president of the American Association of Maternal and Neonatal Health, Secretary/Treasurer and President of the APGO Medical Education Foundation, president of the Chicago Gynecological Society, a member of the Council on Resident Education in Obstetrics and Gynecology, and president of the Central Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

Since 1973, Dr. Sciarra has served as editor of the six-volume series, Gynecology and Obstetrics that is now on a single CD-Rom and updated yearly. In 1985, he became editor of the International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics, and has seen the journal gain prominence under his editorial direction.

Dr. Sciarra has written more than 100 scientific papers and has authored or edited 16 books in the areas of obstetrics and gynecology, family planning and contraceptive development.