In 2004, Amanda J. Drake and Brian R. Walker published “The Intergenerational Effects of Fetal Programming: Non-genomic Mechanisms for the Inheritance of Low Birth Weight and Cardiovascular Risk,” hereafter, “The Intergenerational Effects,” in the Journal of Endocrinology. In their article, the authors assert that cardiovascular disease may develop via fetal programming, which is when a certain event occurring during a critical point of pregnancy affects the fetus long after birth. Drake and Walker were among the first to show that the programming effects of cardiovascular disease could be sustained across generations through non-genetic means. In “The Intergenerational Effects,” the authors identify how non-genetic mechanisms may perpetuate fetal programming influences over generations, highlighting the importance for further research on fetal programming.

A vasectomy is a surgery that works to inhibit reproduction by interrupting the passage of sperm through the vas deferens, a tube in the male reproductive system. The procedure is a method of inhibiting an individual’s ability to cause pregnancy through sexual intercourse without altering the other functions of the penis and testes. In the US, into the early 1900s, proponents of eugenics, the belief that human populations can be made better by selecting for so-called desirable traits, used the procedure to forcibly sterilize people whom they deemed undesirable. Despite its early associations with eugenics, physicians’ use of vasectomy eventually transitioned into an option for elective contraception. Even with the various shifts in motivation for performing vasectomies, as of 2023, patients have the choice to undergo a sterilization procedure if they want to restrict their own ability to have children.

Philippe Ricord was a nineteenth-century physician and surgeon in France who studied syphilis and demonstrated that it is different from gonorrhea. As of 2024, researchers recognize that syphilis and gonorrhea are both sexually transmitted infections, or STIs. However, the bacterium Treponema pallidum causes syphilis, leading to symptoms such as sores and fever, whereas the bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoeae causes gonorrhea and leads to different symptoms such as discharge from the urethra. Before Ricord, researchers thought syphilis and gonorrhea were the same disease. Ricord, through observation and experimentation, distinguished syphilis from gonorrhea and arranged the stages of syphilis into primary, secondary, and tertiary, each associated with different symptoms and levels of severity. By distinguishing syphilis from other STDs and accurately categorizing its stages, Ricord helped researchers better understand how to treat syphilis, a disease that can be transmitted from mother to child, causing life-threatening illness in infants.

Albert Ludwig Sigesmund Neisser was a physician and scientist working in Poland who, in 1879, identified the bacterium that causes gonorrhea. Before Neisser’s discovery, physicians and scientists were unsure of what causes gonorrhea, a sexually transmitted infection, or STI, that typically causes genital pain and discharge in those infected. Using newly available microscopy techniques, Neisser examined genital discharge from patients with gonorrhea and observed the bacteria that eventually became known as Neisseria gonorrhoeae, named in his honor. Beyond discovering the bacterial cause of gonorrhea, Neisser also directed a dermatology clinic in Breslau, Poland, and researched other diseases including syphilis and leprosy. In addition to his discoveries, he also experienced scandals and ethical controversies regarding his research practices, which resulted in the implementation of directives regarding informed consent. By identifying the causative agent of gonorrhea, Neisser enabled future physicians and scientists to develop treatments for a disease that can cause infertility and be passed from mother to child causing serious illness in infants.

In 2020, Osamah Batiha and colleagues published their article “Impact of COVID-19 and Other Viruses on Reproductive Health,'' hereafter “Impact of COVID-19,” in the journal Andrologia. The article is a literature review that encompasses various studies on how coronavirus disease 2019, or COVID-19, impacts male fertility and pregnancy. COVID-19 is a viral disease that primarily infects the respiratory system and causes infection through the virus severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, or SARS-CoV-2. The researchers published “Impact of COVID-19” during the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, which was a time of global panic and uncertainty. “Impact of COVID-19” was one of the first studies to examine the potential effects of COVID-19 on male fertility and elicited discussion within the scientific community regarding the necessary safety precautions to take during viral pandemics.

The Vaginal Microbiome Consortium, or the VMC, established in 2007, consists of a group of researchers, clinicians, statisticians, and geneticists who study the impact of the vaginal microbiome on women’s health. Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia operates the VMC. The United States National Institutes of Health, or the NIH, funds the VMC’s ongoing project called the Vaginal Microbiome Project. Thousands of women have contributed samples for use in research studies by the VMC, which its members have used to research the communities of microorganisms that live in the vagina. A balanced vaginal microbiome can decrease the risk of preterm birth and sexually transmitted infections, or STIs, and pelvic diseases, which helps support women’s health. Researchers can use the VMC’s findings to develop genetic sequence testing for pregnant women to predict preterm birth, which accounted for 10.4 percent of live births in the United States in 2023. The VMC’s research in reproductive health has allowed physicians to prepare birth and treatment plans that improve maternal and infant health and survival.