College of Human Medicine researchers have received a National Institutes of Health grant to study the connection between a gene important for normal cell survival and endometriosis, a painful disease which affects one in 10 women of reproductive age. The disease also has a significant economic impact, estimated at $95 billion annually in the U.S. in lost wages and medical expenses.

The gene called NOTCH1 is “needed for normal reproduction, but when it goes awry it has a significant role in endometriosis,” said Asgi Fazleabas, PhD, a University Distinguished Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology.

The disease typically is undiagnosed for 8-10 years, making it difficult to determine what triggered it.

“So many women go undiagnosed for so many years,” said Fazleabas, a world-renown expert on endometriosis. “As a result, their quality of life is badly affected.”

“For 100 years we’ve been trying to figure out the basic biology of this disease,” Fazleabas said.

Read full story at the College of Human Medicine.