MIT initiative will ‘give women’s health the attention it deserves’

A new US$10m fund will back research into how the uterus affects immune function and why women face higher risks of chronic disease.

The Fairbairn Menstruation Science Fund, launched by the MIT Health and Life Sciences Collaborative (MIT HEALS), is supported by a donation from philanthropists Emily and Malcolm Fairbairn.

It will explore links between menstruation and conditions such as endometriosis, Lyme disease and lupus – illnesses that disproportionately affect women.

Scientists will study the monthly regeneration of the uterine lining, a process described as “scarless healing”.

This could provide insights into immune tolerance – the body’s ability to accept foreign tissue such as a foetus during pregnancy – and may improve outcomes in organ transplants.

The initiative includes the use of “organs on chips” – miniature devices containing living human cells that mimic tissue behaviour.

These enable drug testing on realistic disease models without relying on laboratory animals, whose menstrual and immune systems differ from those of humans.

Professor Linda Griffith, who leads MIT’s Center for Gynepathology Research, has developed chips replicating endometriosis lesions using patient cells.

Her team is also working on “living patient avatar” systems – personalised models that could predict individual treatment responses.

Griffith is collaborating with scientist Michal “Mikki” Tal to study how infections such as Lyme disease may drive chronic inflammation in women.

Their work involves data analysis to identify enzymes, such as JNK, that could become drug targets.

Emily Fairbairn, who has experienced both Lyme disease and endometriosis, said: “Women’s health is often dismissed or misdiagnosed.

“We need science that truly reflects female biology.”

The fund will also support public outreach to reduce stigma around menstruation and raise awareness of abnormal bleeding, anaemia and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

Endometriosis affects one in 10 women and is often undiagnosed for years.

Fairbairn called for other donors to provide US$10m in matching support.

“This is about bold, fearless science,” she said.

“And about giving women’s health the attention it deserves.”