Researchers at the Feinberg School of Medicine earned a $5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to research a hormonal condition that affects millions of women, according to a press release.
The NIH Office of Women’s Health selected Northwestern and 10 other leading medical institutions as locations for Specialized Centers of Research to study the cause and diagnosis of polycystic ovary syndrome, the press release said. Grants were awarded on the basis of past research on the syndrome.
The syndrome is a condition linked with elevated levels of the male sex hormone androgen, irregular menstrual periods, reproductive problems, obesity, excess facial and body hair and severe acne.
Medicine Prof. Andrea Dunaif will lead the research team, according to the press release. The NU team will focus on the role androgen, genes and the environment inside the uterus play in the development of the syndrome.
Four research projects will comprise SCOR, headed by other Feinberg researchers.
Dunaif also is leading studies investigating genetic aspects of the syndrome, the press release said. She and her colleagues have shown that siblings of women with the syndrome also have hormonal and metabolic irregularities. Furthermore, they have isolated a region of a chromosome that appears to be associated with the syndrome.
Researching the syndrome is important because it is a precursor to many serious health problems women often face later in life, according to the press release. The disorder predisposes women to type 2 diabetes, a risk factor for heart disease, kidney problems and stroke. It also is a risk factor for breast cancer. The disorder affects 10 percent of premenopausal women.
Dunaif and colleagues have shown the syndrome to have a substantially negative effect on quality of life because of the many associated conditions, the press release said. And, as diabetes and obesity remain at epidemic levels and cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death in women, research on the syndrome is especially urgent.
