NEW YORK, March 16, 2017 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- The
Endometriosis Foundation of America (EFA) announced today, as part
of Endometriosis Awareness Month, they have awarded a total of
$200,000 in research funding to
research projects focusing on endometriosis.
"The EFA's mission is to fund landmark endometriosis research,"
said Tamer Seckin, MD, FACOG, and Founder & Medical Director of
the EFA. "Research is so important because it helps us to
understand the sub-types of endometriosis; something that will
assist us to develop better treatment strategies. This research
embraces the pertinent and important topics that cover the social
impact of endometriosis as well as looking at the cellular and
molecular make-up of the disease."
The research awards were given to projects at the
following universities:
- Stanford University
- John Hopkins School of
Medicine
- The University of Texas Health
Science Center at San Antonio
- College of Human Medicine, Michigan State
University
- Southern Illinois University (SIU)
School of Medicine
- University of Cincinnati School of
Medicine
- Columbia University Medical
Center
- George Mason University, Department
of Global & Community Health
- Fundacion Para La Investigacion Del Hospital Clinico De La
Commintat Valenciana, Fundacion Incliva
The research studies range from understanding the pathogenesis
of endometriosis to lead to improved treatments, to developing a
biomarker to predict endometriosis earlier while also potentially
uncovering a therapeutic strategy for endometriosis-associated
pain, to a mobile app to track and understand the disease.
"I am very grateful to the EFA for supporting the work of the
Citizen Endo project (Phendo App). There is a disconnect between
the women's experience of endometriosis and the current medical
understanding of its symptoms and potential treatments, and as such
there is a dire need for researchers to bridge this gap. With the
growing awareness about endometriosis, the voice of women suffering
from the disease getting louder, and advances in big data and
health analytics, it is an exciting time to contribute to research
in endometriosis and work towards a cure.," said awardee
Noemie Elhadad, PhD, an Associate
Professor of Biomedical Informatics and Computer Science at
Columbia University. Her work is at the
intersection of medicine, big data, and more recently mobile
health.
Jhumka Gupta, an Assistant Professor of Global and Community
Health at George Mason University, is
studying how endometriosis (including symptoms suggestive of
endometriosis) might impact the social, academic, and economic
well-being of college-aged women.
"We are seeing some great opportunities to understand
endometriosis from all perspectives," said Seckin.
In 2016, The National Institutes of Health (NIH) had a total
budget of $32.3 billion and only
$11 million was allocated for
endometriosis research, the same amount allotted for 2017.
The EFA is pushing for government agencies, foundations
and others to recognize and prioritize endometriosis funding for
2018.
"The prevalence of endometriosis is approximately one in ten
women," said Seckin. "The world tends to know much more about
life-threatening diseases that are less prevalent than
endometriosis but do not consider how much endometriosis can affect
one's life as well as the lives around the sufferer. Research
is going to open the door to new diagnosis and treatment
options."
The EFA, a nonprofit organization dedicated to combating
endometriosis, a debilitating reproductive disease that affects one
in ten women of childbearing age in the
United States, strives to increase disease recognition,
provide advocacy, facilitate expert surgical training, and fund
landmark endometriosis research.
For a full list of the research projects, to donate or to learn
more about endometriosis research visit endofound.org/research or
call 646.854.3309.
About the EFA
The Endometriosis Foundation of America (EFA)
strives to increase disease recognition, provide advocacy,
facilitate expert surgical training, and fund landmark
endometriosis research. Engaged in a robust campaign to inform both
the medical community and the public, the EFA places particular
emphasis on the critical importance of early diagnosis and
effective intervention while simultaneously providing education to
the next generation of medical professionals and their patients.
For more information, visit www.endofound.org.
Media Contact: Jeanne
Rebillard, The Endometriosis Foundation of America (EFA),
845-518-4636, jeanne@endofound.org
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SOURCE Endometriosis Foundation of America