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All our research studies break down into a number of smaller research projects. These projects are supervised by academics within the Centre and the wider Department and are undertaken by postgraduate and postdoctoral researchers.

Image showing students in the labs at the EndoCaRe Centre.

Current Research Projects

Epigenetic & Transcriptional Changes in Endometrial Tissues related to Endometriosis

The project aims to characterise endometriosis aetiology and its surgical and symptomatic subtypes through integration of genomic, transcriptomic, and DNA methylation data. The resources for the project are from the Endometriosis CaRe Centre Oxford and an international consortium effort funded by NIH, US.

This project is being undertaken by Cecilia Cheuk and is supervised by Christian BeckerNilufer Rahmioglu and Krina Zondervan.

Investigating the Mechanisms and Psychological Factors that Influence Endometriosis-Associated Pain

Pain is one of the main symptoms of endometriosis. Studies have shown changes in the periphery and central nervous system in women with endometriosis-associated pain. The project will be using MRI images and questionnaire data to identify central changes in women with endometriosis. The project is interested in investigating neuropathic pain in endometriosis and how stratification of patients can aid our understanding and inform our treatment of women with endometriosis-associated pain.

This project is being undertaken by Lydia Coxon and is supervised by Katy Vincent.

Exploring Endometrial Cellular Heterogeneity and its role in Endometriosis using Single Cell Transcriptomics

The project aims to characterise both the endometrium and endometriosis lesion tissue using single-cell RNA-sequencing. Studying the cellular composition of both of these tissues, the project will explore what role different cell types might play in endometriosis pathogenesis.

This project is being undertaken by Magda Marečková and is supervised by Christian BeckerRebecca Dragovic, Karin HellnerJen SouthcombeRoser Vento-Tormo and Krina Zondervan.

Epidemiology of Endometriosis in Women of Arab Ancestry

This project will investigate the epidemiology of endometriosis, in the context of regionally important environmental and genetic effects, to make important contributions to understand the complex causal pathways underlying diseases, and provide new targets for biomarker discovery development. The association of symptomatology, risk factors, comorbidities and phenotypic profiles to endometriosis will be analyzed. In addition, a candidate gene association study will be conducted to test known endometriosis-associated genetic markers from the European ancestry population, for replication in women of Arab ancestry.

This project is being undertaken by Mira Mousa and is supervised by Krina Zondervan, Christian Becker and Nilufer Rahmioglu.

Microvesicles in mediating endometriosis-associated pain

Pain is one of the characteristic symptoms of the disease, yet little is known about ways in which we can phenotype endometriosis-associated pain. Microvesicles have known implications in the inflammatory pathways of other inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, and so it is of particular interest to characterise, quantify, and identify the cellular origins of microvesicles, in relation to widespread endometriosis pain.

This project is being undertaken by Danielle Perro and is supervised by Krina Zondervan and Christian Becker.

The association between endometriosis and immunological diseases

This project utilises data collected from the 270,000 UK women (UK Biobank) to understand the association between endometriosis and immunological diseases, as well as the potential shared biological/genetic basis. This project aims to improve our understanding for the pathogenesis of endometriosis and immunological diseases, and may contribute to the identification of novel therapeutic target opportunities or diagnosis potential for endometriosis. 

This project is being undertaken by Nina Shigesi and is supervised by Krina ZondervanNilufer Rahmioglu and Christian Becker.

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