A novel non-invasive diagnostic for endometriosis/adenomyosis

Women with endometriosis suffer for up to 10 years in pain before a diagnosis is made. This is in part due to lack of a non-invasive diagnostic test. Endometriosis affects 10% of girls and women and is characterised by lesions of endometrial tissue that grow throughout the pelvic cavity, causing pain, disease and infertility. This project will build upon our novel findings that menstrual fluid may serve as a novel non-invasive diagnostic for endometriosis. The project involves quantitation and functional characterisation of endometrial stem/progenitor cells and proteins found in small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) in menstrual fluid. Techniques include sEV preparation, flow cytometry, proteomics and immunofluorescence. Techniques employed can be tailored to suit the interests of the student.