Genetic variants, Early Life exposures, and Longitudinal Endometriosis symptoms Study (GELLES)
Duration: 5 years (2020-2024)
GELLES is a new substudy of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health. It aims to improve endometriosis diagnosis by advancing understanding of its causes and progression and developing useful clinical tools and guidelines.
The GELLES substudy will leverage existing data from two cohorts of participants in the Australian Longitudinal Study of Women’s Health who have been followed since age 18-23 years. GELLES will collect additional data and DNA samples from these women. The new survey will cover early life history (e.g., in utero exposures, birth characteristics, and maternal smoking) and reproductive symptoms during adolescence (such as irregular menses and pelvic pain). GELLES will compare women with and without endometriosis and identify the combinations of factors and patterns of symptoms linked with increased risk of endometriosis and longer time to diagnosis.
Contact: gelles@uq.edu.au
Project members
- Dr Sally Mortlock
- Dr Marina Kvaskoff