Human Papillomavirus is so ubiquitous that an estimated 80 percent of the human population will contract it during their lives.

With such an alarming rate of infection, much research during the past decade has sought a safe and effective vaccine.

Dr. Daron Ferris, a professor of family medicine and obstetrics/gynecology at the Medical College of Georgia, is recruiting female University students for a new vaccine study he is conducting. The study will last three and a half years, and will consist of check-ups every six months.

“We’ve been studying HPV vaccines for 10 years now,” Ferris said. “We know a lot about Gardasil, and now we’re trying to further reduce the number of women who contract lower genital [tumors].”

The study of the vaccine, now in its third phase of trials, aims to produce quantifiable results that will show how well the drug works.

Ferris said the new vaccine he’s testing “might reduce the risk of cervical cancer by up to 90 percent.” Because the incentive for the women involved in the study is a free vaccination, a typical “sugar pill” placebo will not be used.

“Usually, 50 percent or more of study participants receive a placebo. Obviously that’s unethical in this case, so the placebo we use will be Gardasil,” he said.

Meg Cramer, a staff physician at the Women’s Clinic in the University Health Center, said cases of HPV are “very, very common these days. We see a lot of cases, a mix of both”- mild and severe forms.

Cramer said the Health Center offers Gardasil, a vaccine developed in 2006 against four of the more deadly types of HPV. which is the only vaccine for the virus.

Gardasil reduces the risk of cervical cancer by 70 percent, Ferris said.

HPV is essentially “a wart virus,” Dr. Ferris said in a telephone interview Monday. “There are more than 100 types. Some cause warts on the fingers or plantar warts on the feet.”

But other types of HPV can cause serious health problems.

“Forty of them affect the genitals” and can be sexually transmitted, Ferris said. These types of HPV can damage the lower genitals and lead to vaginal, penile and anal cancers.

Rebecca Lambert, a clinical research assistant to Dr. Ferris, said in an e-mail interview the study is “an excellent opportunity for ladies who cannot afford the vaccine or gynecological care because both are provided for participants.”

Reimbursement for time and travel, also provided to participants, would amount to $825 over the course of the study. All women at the University between the ages of 16 and 26 who are interested in taking part can reach Dr. Ferris at (706) 721-2535 for more information.