Endometriosis Association And Vanderbilt University School Of Medicine Extend Groundbreaking Partnership

Main Category: Women's Health / Gynecology
Also Included In: Fertility
Article Date: 02 Apr 2009 - 0:00 PDT

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The Endometriosis Association and Vanderbilt University School of Medicine are extending their successful research partnership for seven more years.

"Never before has a major medical institution made such a bold commitment to true partnership with a nonprofit," said Association Executive Director Mary Lou Ballweg. "Association members, via the headquarters staff, constantly feed information about the experience of endometriosis to the team, which coordinates it with scientific thought."

The Endometriosis Association Research Program at Vanderbilt, the Association's flagship academic research program, was established in 1999. Ballweg credits its truly excellent research with helping propel scientific understanding of endometriosis forward in important, new directions.

Ballweg says that the research team's many scien¬tific discoveries paint a picture of a disease far more complex than ever imagined when the Association started twenty-nine years ago. This has increased excitement among researchers worldwide. She is convinced that a breakthrough resulting in better treatments, and perhaps even a cure and prevention, will occur, if funding can match that excitement.

Among the Vanderbilt researchers' key findings is growing evidence of the harmful impact of exposure to dioxin, one of the "dirty dozen," a group of dangerous chemicals known as persistent organic pollutants. Exposure to dioxin appears to alter pathways of cell to cell communication in the endometrium that mimics an inflammatory-like event. In mice exposed to dioxin in utero and developmentally, there was disruption of endometrial function for multiple generations, suggesting this toxicant can impact the endometrial biology through the germ line. In collaboration with multiple pharmaceutical companies and other U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded investigators, the researchers also continue to screen new compounds for potential use as therapeutics for women with endometriosis.

The Vanderbilt team currently has four NIH grants - an exceptional level of funding given the restricted NIH budgets of the last eight years. Kevin Osteen, Ph.D., Director of the Endometriosis Association Research Program and Kaylon Bruner-Tran, Ph.D., Associate Director, attribute the NIH funding success to the leverage created with the Association's support. The Association also partners with the NIH on studies utilizing the Association's large research registry and in co-sponsoring a Research Fellowship. Another Association research project is about to begin at Harvard University.

A plaque and the new "Tracy H. Dickinson Epigenetics Research Laboratory" at Vanderbilt recognize Dickinson, an Association board member and long-time, major donor. A second plaque honors the generous support of the Harry and Betty Quadracci family, including Elizabeth Quadracci Harned, Kathryn Quadracci-Flores, Joel Quadracci, and Richard Quadracci.

New contract with Vanderbilt signed as part of Endometriosis Awareness Month

The Endometriosis Association announced the signing of its second contract with Vanderbilt as part of its Endometriosis Awareness Month activities. Begun as a week-long effort of the EA in 1993, the month of March is now set aside by the Association and national support organizations around the world to raise the profile of endo. When women with the disease inform friends, family, schools and employers of everything they face, the result is more and better understanding and support.

The Association is also reaching out to the medical community. Surveys by the American Association of Gynecologic Laparoscopists, always place endometriosis at the top of the list of topics about which physicians want more information. The Association offers free, valuable educational tools, including brochures, ribbons and a 15 minute DVD, to women to personally deliver to their physicians. Physicians and women can call 414-355-2200 or send an e-mail to endo@EndometriosisAssn.org for more information.

Endometriosis affects 6.3 million women and girls in the U.S. alone. Wayward endometrial tissue implants itself outside the uterus, on the ovaries, fallopian tubes, and points beyond. These implants build up and shed in rhythm with menstruation. The bleeding causes irritation, which results in scarring, cysts, and the fusing or adhesion of normally separate tissues, including blockage of the reproductive tract. The pain of endometriosis may extend beyond the menstrual phase and can include sharp pain during intercourse. Though primarily a disease of the reproductive years, endo can also occur in adolescence before menstruation and in menopausal women. The average time from onset to a diagnosis is currently about ten years, as found in a study conducted by the Association and the NIH.

Source
Endometriosis Association