David F. Archer, M.D.

In this issue of Seminars in Reproductive Medicine, I am pleased that I was able to enlist Dr. David Archer, a national and international researcher and expert in menopause and hormone treatment. Dr. Archer was able to recruit several experts to address current issues and treatments of this critical time in the life of women. Estrogen deficiency leads to vasomotor symptoms, vaginal atrophy, bone lose, and other health problems. It is hoped that this issue will serve as a contemporary approach to the menopause.

Dr. Archer is Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS) in Norfolk, VA. He is board certified in obstetrics and gynecology with advanced certification in reproductive endocrinology and infertility. He is the Director of the Contraceptive Research and Development Program (CONRAD) Clinical Research Center, which is housed in the Jones Institute for Reproductive Medicine on the campus of EVMS. He is the Director of the Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility Fellowship Program in the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Dr. Archer has been in the active practice of reproductive endocrinology and infertility since 1970. He has been involved in a variety of clinical research protocols during that time. As Director of the CONRAD Clinical Research Center, he has participated in more than 200 clinical protocols related to Women's Health. Fifty-two percent of these protocols have been related to contraception and 48% have been related to menopause. He has been involved in phase I through III commercial clinical protocols and contraceptive protocols funded by the CONRAD Program, Family Health International, and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). He is currently the holder of one of the nine Master Agreements of the NICHD Clinical Network for Contraceptive Research. As part of the Contraceptive Trial Network, Dr. Archer has participated in trials of a vaginal spermicide, an emergency contraceptive pill, and the efficacy of a vaginal spermicide for contraception. He currently has a National Institutes of Health (NIH) contract for the investigation of endometrial bleeding in women using progestin-only contraceptives. Dr. Archer is a member of the NICHD Contraceptive Clinical Trial Network (CCTN), inaugurated in 2004. He is the Principal Investigator for the CCTN, and has two subcontractors for the current clinical trial of a vaginal contraceptive.

Dr. Archer has published extensively in the area of reproductive endocrinology, with a particular interest in the menopause. His current research interest is in the mechanisms and control of uterine bleeding, particularly as it relates to progestin-only contraceptives and postmenopausal women using hormone therapy.

Dr. Archer is an author or coauthor of more than 125 peer-reviewed publications. He has served on NIH special study sections, and for 4 years was the chairman of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Maternal and Fertility Drug Advisory Committee. He has also been a member of the World Health Organization Task Force for Long-Acting Hormonal Contraceptives.

Dr. Archer serves as the editor of Menopausal Medicine, a quarterly publication of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine, and is on the editorial board of Contraceptive Technology Update, and Menopause, the journal of the North American Menopause Society. He is an associate editor for Human Reproduction. He is an ad hoc reviewer for Fertility and Sterility, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Steroids, and the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.