Amid uncertainty about federal science funding, CT will continue to invest in endometriosis research.

The World Health Organization estimates that endometriosis affects approximately 1 in 10 people assigned female at birth. Governor Ned Lamont’s two-year, $55.2 billion budget proposal maintains funding for a new state partnership to continue research and education around this chronic, painful, and difficult-to-diagnose and treat condition.

These efforts meet the requirements of a state law passed in 2023, based on recommendations from the Endometriosis Working Group. The initial state funding established a biorepository known as EndoRISE. UConn Health and the Jackson Lab are working together to collect, study, and catalog patient tissue samples to develop diagnostics and treatments beyond surgery.

State Representative Jillian Gilchrest (D-West Hartford) chairs the working group and believes that endometriosis research has historically been insufficient.

Federal funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study the disease has increased over time; $27 million of the agency’s multibillion-dollar budget was allocated for the disease in 2022, up from $13 million in 2020.