CURRENT RESEARCH ACTIVITY:
• Diabetes Mellitus and pregnancy
• Exercise in pregnancy and clinical applications
• Premature labor etimology and management
• Detection of cervical dilatation
• Obesity and body composition
• Pathophysiology of chorioamniotic membranes
• Dacorin - collogen intersection

CURRENT RESEARCH ACTIVITY:
• Perceived and actual medical risk in older women.
• Complementary and alternative medicine use in pregnant and non-pregnant patients.
• Incidence of uterine hyperstimulation in term patients.
• Development of an electric toolbox for use in an ambulatory setting.
• Rates of hysterectomy (1985-1989 and 1995-1999)
• Thrombophlebitis in patients with preterm labor
• Risk of uterine rupture in diabetics
• Evaluation of methods to assess professionalism in medical students
• Changes in medical student perceptions of the pharmaceutical industry during medical school

CURRENT RESEARCH ACTIVITY:
• Diabetes
• Obesity

CURRENT RESEARCH ACTIVITY:
• Barometric Pressure Changes and its Effects on Rupture of Membranes at Term
• Effects of steroid administration of maternal glucose levels. Ongoing research
• Diabetes in pregnancy

CURRENT RESEARCH ACTIVITY:
• All aspects of perinatal medicine
• Critical and operative obstetrical emergency care
• Development of clinical paths and guidelines
• Preterm labor
• Perinatal infections
• Fetal lung maturity
• Fetal umbilical cord blood transfusion
• Lead poisoning prevention

• Vulvodynia
• Vulvar dystrophy
• Managing lichen sclerosus with mid potency corticosteroids

CURRENT RESEARCH ACTIVITY:
• Minimally invasive gynecologic surgery including laparoscopic hysterectomy, myomectomy,robotic surgery and operative hysteroscopy
• Gynecologic surgery
• Endometriosis
• Abnormal uterine bleeding, uterine fibroids, postmenopausal bleeding, dysmenorrhea and alternatives to hysterectomy
• Menopause
• Resident and medical student education
• Predictor Factors for Difficulty of TLH
• Prospective Study Comparing Disposable Vessel Sealing Device & Reusable Bipolar

CURRENT RESEARCH ACTIVITY:
Vulvovaginal Diseases:
• Vulvodynia
• Vulvar dystrophy
• Management of lichen sclerosus with topical Triamcinolone

CURRENT RESEARCH ACTIVITY:
• Resident Education
• Different techniques for tension free slings
• Role of hydrodistension & interstitial cystitis
• Role of estrogen in interstitial cystitis

CURRENT RESEARCH ACTIVITY:
• Peripheral sacral neuromodulation for urge incontinence, voiding dysfunction and pelvic pain
• Lumbosacral dysfunction associated with pelvic pain
• Treatment of interstitial cystitis
• Myofascial pain
• Treatment of overactive bladder

CURRENT RESEARCH ACTIVITY:
• Factors involved in obtaining Informed consent and facilitating decision making regarding testing for aneuploidy Prenatal diagnosis of birth defects

CURRENT RESEARCH ACTIVITY:
• Simulation and education
• Maternal medical disease in pregnancy
• Genetics
• Applications of technology in medicine

CURRENT RESEARCH ACTIVITY:
• Pelvic floor anatomy
• Vaginal mesh removal
• Treatment of interstitial cystitis
• Urinary incontinence

CURRENT RESEARCH ACTIVITY:
• complex GYN surgery
• Advanced laparoscopy

CURRENT RESEARCH ACTIVITY:
• Predictive Factor for Difficulty of TLH
• Prospective Study Comparing Disposable Vessel Sealing Device & Reusable Bipolar
• Principal Investigator for a multi-step, multi-center trial to do a prospective randomized comparison of excision versus ablation in the laparoscopic management of endometriosis. Completing pilot study phase. Carried out through by the AAGL Research Committee.
• Principal Investigator for creating a prospective database and tissue bank for the Saint Louis University Center for Endometriosis. This will be used to evaluate outcomes of excision for endometriosis, and to provide a mechanism to studying endometriosis samples to ultimately find a cure for endometriosis.
• Site Investigator for a multi-center retrospective study looking at comparing two different classification systems for endometriosis - the old one (revised version of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine) and a new one (developed by a Special Interest group on Endometriosis of the American Association of Gynecologic Laparoscopists).
• Site investigator for in a multi-center, randomized controlled trial of single site laparoscopic surgery versus conventional laparoscopic surgery for total hysterectomy. Sponsored by Covidien.
• Supervising author for a study entitled Patient Preferences of Cosmesis for Incisions in Gynecologic Surgery. Manuscript in submission phase.

CURRENT RESEARCH ACTIVITY:
• Correlation of Triage and Formal UTS
• Infectious Disease
• STD’s
• Postmenopausal bleeding
• Abnormal Uterine Bleeding

CURRENT RESEARCH ACTIVITY:
• Menopause and Female Sexual Disorders
• Hypertension in Pregnancy as related to Body Mass Index

CURRENT RESEARCH ACTIVITY:
• Outcomes of Low Risk Pregnancies with Spontaneous Decelerations in Triage
• Abnormal Pap Smears
• Colonoscopy

CURRENT RESEARCH ACTIVITY:
• Endometrial Stripe in Women with and without Abnormal Uterine Bleeding
• Postmenopausal women
• Family Planning
• Abnormal Pap Smears

CURRENT RESEARCH ACTIVITY:
• Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology
• Gynecologic Care for Special Needs population
• musculoskeletal causes of abdominal and pelvic pain

Jeff Gavard, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor & Biostatician
Research Division