EFA's Second Annual Scientific Symposium - Medical Conference 2011 - March

http://www.endofound.org/medicalconference

The first day of the conference was comprised of the EFA's traditional scientific and surgical symposium, in which patient, healthcare providers and women’s health professionals who attended as delegates had the crucial opportunity to learn from the renowned faculty; it is the Foundation’s mission that such education be applied in those individuals’ own practices in order to improve the delivery of care to their endometriosis patients. During the first session, “Biochemistry & Molecular Science of Endometriosis,” famed Pathologist William Rodgers, MD, PhD illustrated the significance of an ongoing project of the Foundation - the establishment of a Tissue Procurement Facility.  As Dr. Rodgers explained, studies on endometriosis cannot be done effectively without actual samples of the tissue, which are often lost in such surgical approaches as vaporization. In correspondence with these efforts, Linda Griffith, PhD and Keith Isaacson, MD of the MIT Center for Gynepathology Research, discussed current research efforts toward an understanding of the cues and signals of the disease, studying patient samples and comparing similarities and differences.  The world’s foremost authority on stem cell research, Caroline Gargett, BAppSci, MAppSci, PhD, also presented her critical data concerning the role of endometrial stem cells in gynecological disease and how they can be targeted for potential treatment of the disease.

EFA Co-Founder Padma Lakshmi took the stage Friday to thank attendees and ask if those present would continue to “help us by spreading the word…be our soldiers in the field…so that younger generations of women do not go through what I went through.”

One of the presenters reiterated the enigmatic nature of the disease - endometriosis is positionally static, following a pattern as it develops, rather than simply spreading at random; in tandem with this, aggressive excision has been demonstrated clearly to be the best option for satisfactory patient outcome. In concurrence with this lecture, world-renowned surgeon Harry Reich, MD emphasized that medical treatment “never works, though it is looked at favorably by the health care industry due to costs.”  Dr. Reich reiterated the message that excision surgery is essential to fighting against this disease.

“it has been found that many lesions of endometriosis can manufacture their own estrogen within the lesions themselves and therefore they do not care whether the patient has ovaries or is taking estrogen replacement therapy”  Endometriosis Foundation of America

The theme continued throughout the day, with revealing clinical presentations on endometriosis syndromes, primate model data updates, associated infertility, surgical demonstrations and much more from panelists.

Conference moderator Heather Roppolo-Guidone, EFA’s Chief Medical & Science Coordinator and Saturday Co-Chair, opened the second day by encouraged participating patients to take advantage of the open forum, saying “if we don’t speak for ourselves, no one will speak for us.” Recounting the origins of the conference, Dr. Seckin explained to the audience, “you are the reason that we got this going…we saw that patients were not being treated properly…we saw that we were missing things…and not being taught how to properly treat you.”  He also reemphasized the mission of the Foundation: “we need to create awareness, along with education…I continue to look for the truth.”  The unique, patient-centric theme of Saturday’s workshops encouraged extensive dialogue between attendees and panel experts.  The novel event – the first of its kind in the United States - gave patients and caregivers unparalleled access to leaders on the disease, affording the opportunity to exchange ideas, ask for guidance, share suggestions, and most importantly, allow women’s voices to be heard.

Friday's sessions were webcast live in an interactive format and watched by countless participants from around the globe.  Click our video gallery to access individual lecture and interview downloads.