Launching the Boston Center for Endometriosis
Boston, 18 April 2012
Boston Children’s Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital today announced the inception of The Boston Center for Endometriosis, a joint undertaking to discover causes, promote prevention, and develop new treatments and cures for the disease of endometriosis.
The Center is the first in the world of its kind and will serve as the premier diagnostic, treatment, research, and educational resource for the disease throughout a woman’s lifespan – from adolescence through adulthood.
After 14-year-old Emily Hatch of Wellesley was treated for endometriosis at Boston Children’s Hospital, her mother, Mary Alice, asked the surgeon what she could do to help researchers find better treatments and ultimately discover a cure for the painful, chronic disorder.
That conversation led to a gift of $3 million from the foundation started by Mary Alice’s grandfather, J Willard Marriott, to launch the Boston Center for Endometriosis.
Associate Professor Marc Laufer, Harvard Medical School
The Boston Center for Endometriosis is unique in its features. Currently, no one in the world has a teen-through-adulthood endometriosis programme that can ensure both seamless clinical care for patients while conducting research to fuel scientific progress
said Marc Laufer MD, Chief of Gynaecology at Boston Children’s Hospital, and a gynaecologic surgeon in the Center for Infertility and Reproductive Surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
The J Willard and Alice S Marriott Foundation’s gift will fund the Center’s innovative database and bio-repository and the Endometriosis Research Awards programme to encourage scientists to participate in the search for a cure. Half of the gift is a challenge grant that is contingent on raising another $1.5 million in research funds.
Assistant Professor Stacey Missmer, Harvard Medical School
The Center, through integration of clinical and scientific disciplines will bring together leaders in the study of endometriosis to advance our knowledge across the life-course through innovations in genetics, lifestyle, and environment to promote long-term health,
said Stacey Missmer ScD, Scientific Director of The Boston Endometriosis Center and researcher at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
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