Medford Alum Creates Award Winning Endometriosis Diagnostic

Press release from iGem:

December 7, 2020

Medford, Nov. 22, 2020 – Patchogue-Medford High School Alum Emily Schiller ‘17, as part of the University of Rochester’s International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) Team, was recognized at the iGEM competition this past weekend for creating a novel, noninvasive diagnostic for endometriosis. The first-year team, led by Schiller, competed against over 250 teams worldwide and out of the forty-two teams from North America, the team won the most awards and nominations total with five nominations and two awards.

Achievements include:

1. Gold Medal
2. Best Diagnostic Undergraduate Project
3. Inclusivity Award
4. Best Software Nominee
5. Best Integrated Human Practices Nominee
6. Best Education Nominee

Full results: https://2020.igem.org/Competition/Results#Track_Awards

About Team Rochester’s Project
Since February, Schiller has been Team Lead of a group of 12 undergraduates as they tackled the underdiagnosis of endometriosis. The team created an assay, similar to a pregnancy test, that measures the presence of endometriosis biomarkers in menstrual effluent (blood). Their test utilizes antibodies, which are notorious for increasing the cost of diagnostics. To reduce this cost, the team created a “Plug and Play” method to produce antibodies in genetically engineered bacteria. Additionally, to facilitate menstrual effluent collection, the team designed a menstrual cup that caters to women with endometriosis who often find conventional menstrual cups painful. The team also utilized machine learning to create a clinical predictive model that can assess endometriosis risk. With 85% accuracy, it is currently the most accurate and inexpensive endometriosis predictive model available. Their project has been praised for its low cost, accessibility, and integration of feedback from endometriosis experts and patients.

Schiller is currently in the senior year of Bachelor of Science program in Cell and Developmental Biology at the University of Rochester.

Visit https://2020.igem.org/Team:Rochester or email uofr.igem@gmail.com for further information.

What is Endometriosis?
Endometriosis affects 10% of women worldwide, yet invasive laparoscopic surgery is the only current diagnostic technique. Lack of awareness and research in this field results in an average diagnostic delay of 11 years from the onset of symptoms, leaving women to live with years of pelvic pain, severe cramps, and possible infertility as endometrial-like tissue grows outside of the uterus1,2.

About iGEM
iGEM (International Genetically Engineered Machine) Foundation is an independent, non-profit organization that pioneered the synthetic biology industry and continues to advance the field through education, competition and industry collaboration. iGEM's annual student competition is the largest synthetic biology innovation program and a launchpad for the industry's most successful leaders and companies. The competition empowers thousands of local people to solve local problems around the world by engineering biology for safe and responsible solutions.
The After iGEM program supports the competition's 40,000+ participants in their future endeavors to continue leading and setting the standards for synthetic biology on an international level. iGEM's community is composed of students, leaders, investors, influencers and policymakers who continue to work toward a strong, responsible and visionary synthetic biology industry. For more information, visit www.igem.org.

1. Mutter, G.L. (2014). Endometriosis. In Pathology of the Female Reproductive Tract, pp. 487–508.
2. Fauconnier, A., Staraci, S., Huchon, C., Roman, H., Panel, P., and Descamps, P. (2013). Comparison of patient- and physician-based descriptions of symptoms of endometriosis: a qualitative study. Hum. Reprod. 28, 2686–2694.

This press release was produced by iGem. The views expressed here are the author's own.