Understudied, Uncleared, Unresolved

Endometriosis, a condition affecting 190 million reproductive age women worldwide, causes endometrial-like tissue lesions outside of the uterus. Current invasive, ineffective, or non-existent therapeutics could be revolutionized by re-engineered immune cells designed to remove these painful lesions. 

Using colored pencils, chalk pastels, and ink, I have depicted microscopy of genetically engineered macrophages engaging with endometriotic cells and a spheroid, a 3D cellular model that mimics lesions. These cellular models allow us to study potential therapeutics outside of the body, in vitro. Understanding these cellular mechanisms outside the body helps us understand more about a condition that still has many questions surrounding it, including its origins. Endometriosis causes many symptoms like pelvic pain, excessive bleeding, dysmenorrhea, and infertility. Women are told pain is to be expected and to deal with it, but they shouldn’t have to fight that pain daily. Women’s research is more important than ever when patients are halting their lives waiting for the science to catch up.