Andrew is Director of the Centre for Reproductive Health at the University of Edinburgh.  He is a leading researcher in women’s health problems, with a focus on endometriosis and pelvic pain, and has published over 200 peer-reviewed scientific articles. He is President-elect of the World Endometriosis Society and Trustee to Endometriosis UK.

Andrew has a vision that ultimately all medical interventions for women with endometriosis will have an underlying evidence base, demonstrating that their action does more good than harm. In case of uncertainty, he believes that patients must be informed of the evidence gap, and optimally, be offered participation in a clinical trial.

To achieve this goal, he has established EXPPECT Edinburgh. EXPPECT brings together individuals involved in the clinical care of women with pelvic pain and endometriosis with discovery scientists to form a hub within which innovative approaches to pelvic pain treatment can be developed in collaboration with commercial partners.

With the support of the EXPPECT team, he is most proud of the work that he has carried out to further the understanding of the aetiology of endometriosisand develop a potential non-hormonal treatment for the condition.

His studies have shown that peritoneal mesothelial cells from women with endometriosis have an altered metabolic phenotype, similar to cancer cells. This finding has underpinned a body of work which has demonstrated that it is possible to treat women with endometriosis with a drug that has previously been tested in cancer and led to exploratory clinical trials in women. Taken together, his findings provide the rationale for targeting metabolic processes as a non-contraceptive treatment for women with endometriosis either as primary non-hormonal management or to prevent recurrence after surgery.

Dolapo Ayansina 2022-current; Second supervisor; PhD in progress – non-clinical

Epidemiology endometriosis symptoms and prediction of endometriosis

Francesca Hearn-Yeates 2020-current; Primary supervisor; PhD in progress – non-clinical

Investigating the impact of diet on endometriosis-associated pain

Katherine Edgley 2019-current; Primary supervisor; PhD in progress – non-clinical

New insights into longitudinal endometriosis symptom trajectories using wearable technology

Heather Flanagan 2020-current; Primary supervisor; PhD in progress – non-clinical

The aetiology of ectopic pregnancy