Endometriosis model mirroring human disease
How would you propose to develop an in vivo endometriosis model reflecting fibrotic pathophysiology of human lesions and identify actionable therapeutic strategies?
Angela Baljuls
Project Manager RBB
Eye Health & Research Beyond Borders
Sylvia Gasparini
Principal Scientist
Eye Health & Research Beyond Borders
Call for proposals: All incoming answers accompanied by a collaboration proposal will be evaluated by a scientific jury, and, upon selection, chosen proposals are pursued through a joint collaboration with the successful applicants. Initial funding of up to 150,000 euros annually for a maximum period of two years will be available for proposals that will receive support by our review team.
More information
Endometriosis is a chronic, systemic, estrogen-driven disorder wherein disease lesions comprising tissue similar to the uterine lining (endometrium) develop outside the uterus. Ectopic lesions invade surrounding structures, triggering inflammation, neo-neuroangiogenesis, fibrosis, pain, and organ dysfunction. Fibrosis is a key pathological feature of all types of endometriotic lesions. It is believed to be closely linked to pelvic pain, which is the most common symptom of the disease. This pain significantly impacts patient’s quality of life.
Targeting fibrotic pathomechanisms in endometriotic lesions may offer a promising therapeutic approach for this severe condition. However, there is limited information on the development of fibrosis and a lack of preclinical models that effectively reflect clinically relevant endpoints, such as chronic fibrosis. While existing rodent models address certain aspects, such as inflammation and immune dysregulation, they often fail to adequately represent fibrosis, thereby poorly capturing the complexity of the disease. Moreover, these models do not sufficiently depict the severity, characteristics, and drivers of fibrosis observed in human clinical cases of endometriosis. The underlaying interplay of signaling mechanisms that contribute to lesion formation within a fibrotic environment also remains underexplored. These limitations underscore the urgent need for improved in vivo models that accurately translates the fibrotic pathology of the disease and enable a deeper investigation into its mechanisms.
Innovative in vivo model that has to meet all of the following criteria:
- Allow the identification and validation of protein targets that drive fibrotic pathomechanisms in endometriotic lesions and/or are involved in the interplay of myofibroblasts and peripheral nerve fibers.
- Use of endometrium separated from the myometrium or human endometriosis lesion tissue to induce lesions in the in vivo model.
- Allow the quantification of fibrosis in lesions through histological analysis.
- Show an increase in fibrosis biomarkers that are translatable to human endometriosis lesions.
- Demonstrate measurable abdominal pain or behavioral readouts indicative of abdominal discomfort.
- Models based on non-human primates (NHPs).
- Models utilizing pieces of uterine tissue containing myometrium for lesion induction.
- Models that exhibit lesion inflammation but no further progression to fibrotic phenotype.
- Models that exhibit central sensitization but no abdominal pain/discomfort.
- Models that exhibit lesion regression/self-recovery over time.
- in silico models
If your project is selected, you will have the opportunity to directly collaborate with the Eye Health & Research Beyond Borders (EH&RBB) team of Boehringer Ingelheim.
You can also expect appropriate funding for the prospective collaboration period. Your exact funding request should be outlined in your proposal. As a framework, we suggest that your initial funding request is structured in milestones and does not exceed 150,000 euros annually over a course of maximum two years per submitted project in total (including direct, indirect, overhead costs).
Our collaboration agreement will provide full transparency about each partner’s rights & obligations (including intellectual property rights). As part of the agreement, you will be encouraged to publish following the collaboration agreement (to be negotiated in good faith).
The proposal needs to be highly feasible, should be based on established and existing methods, assays and involve tools / reagents that are either available or which can be easily produced. We expect that the project will be executed in your laboratory and takes advantage of existing technologies and methods.
In addition, we are seeking research collaboration proposals that contain:
- A well-structured proposal outlining a new and compelling scientific approach.
- Outlining of the technical feasibility, and potentially existing data or previous publications that support feasibility / experience with outlined technology, based on existing and established assays.
- Your exact funding request should be outlined in your proposal based on a well-thought-through project. The project should be structured in milestones and planned with key decision points (clear Go/No-Go criteria). The funding request for the initial milestones resulting in a Go/No-Go decision does not exceed 150,000 euros annually over a course of maximum two years per submitted project in total.
- Proven track record in the required field of expertise.
- Ability to implement the outlined solution as part of a scientific collaboration project with Boehringer Ingelheim including access to a wet laboratory.
- Proposals with an anticipated execution time of 2 years will be prioritized.
Please use our answer submission template to provide a 2–3 page non-confidential proposal (available for download here).
If confidential data exists that would strengthen the proposal, please indicate that information is available to share under a Confidential Disclosure Agreement (CDA). If we find the non-confidential concept proposal sufficiently interesting, we will execute a CDA for confidential discussions.
We are currently seeking answers for the following scientific question: How would you propose to develop an in vivo endometriosis model reflecting fibrotic pathophysiology of human lesions and identify actionable therapeutic strategies?
All incoming answers accompanied by a collaboration proposal will be evaluated by a scientific jury, and, upon selection, chosen proposals are pursued through a joint collaboration with the successful applicants. Initial funding of up to 150,000 euros annually for a maximum period of two years will be available for proposals that will receive support by our review team.
We can only accept research proposals if they arrive no later than November 12, 2025, 11:59 pm PST.
