{"690736":{"#nid":"690736","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Professor, Student Lead Pioneering Research in Women\u2019s Health ","body":[{"value":"\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt affects up to one-third of the human population and can create symptoms severe enough to lead to hospitalization, yet much about what causes it remains a mystery. It\u2019s rarely discussed in public, often goes undiagnosed, and remains a consistently \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nature.com\/immersive\/d41586-023-01475-2\/index.html\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eunderfunded\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.aamc.org\/news\/why-we-know-so-little-about-women-s-health\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eunderstudied\u003C\/a\u003E area of science.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhat is this mystery condition? Heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB), which can cause severe pain, anemia, fatigue, and may even require some women to get blood transfusions.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EScience has historically \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/time.com\/7171341\/gender-gap-medical-research\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eoverlooked\u003C\/a\u003E diseases and conditions such as HMB that predominantly affect women, but one Georgia Tech researcher and his doctoral student are working to change that.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAbout 30 percent of women have heavy menstrual, and that can cause them to become anemic,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/people.research.gatech.edu\/david-ku\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EDavid Ku\u003C\/a\u003E, a Regents\u2019 Professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EGeorge W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E. \u201cThere are a lot of lost days where there\u0027s fatigue and embarrassment from bleeding too much, and the causes of that bleeding are poorly understood.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EKu, a faculty member in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/bioresearch.gatech.edu\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EParker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience\u003C\/a\u003E, has received initial funding of $466,000 from \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/wellcomeleap.org\/the-missed-vital-sign\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EWellcome Leap\u003C\/a\u003E to study whether clotting disorders contribute to HMB. The condition is most often attributed to hormone imbalances, leading many patients to receive treatments such as hormonal therapies that help manage symptoms. But in some cases, these treatments may treat symptoms while leaving an underlying bleeding disorder undiagnosed.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIf a woman goes on the pill, it supposedly regulates the hormones and masks if there\u0027s a blood clotting problem,\u201d Ku said. \u201cIf she has a clotting problem and doesn\u2019t know it, she could run into other clotting problems if she has an injury or some type of trauma in the future. By diagnosing it properly, we can fix it properly.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs part of the study, Ku and his team of Chris Bresette, Minki Kang, and Raphaelle Dodart, are using a microfluidic blood-clotting test developed in the Ku laboratory to investigate whether clotting dysfunction contributes to heavy menstrual bleeding. This handheld instrument \u2014 which runs blood through a microfluidic tube about the width of a human hair \u2014 measures the speed of blood clotting and may open up possibilities for more personalized patient care.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe want to develop a point of care device that could allow gynecologists to diagnose the problem while the patient is visiting, as opposed to sending the blood off to the lab,\u201d Ku said. \u201cCurrently, there is no good test for that. We\u2019ve simplified the microscope system so that you can directly see whether the blood is clotting by going through that small tube.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDodart, who was studying the mechanics of clotting and hypothesized the prevalence in HMB, is recruiting volunteers for the study. She is currently working with women who exhibit symptoms of HMB and are willing to give a small amount of blood to be tested through the diagnostic device. If her hypothesis around blood clotting is proven true, the study can expand further into the realm of treatment options.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe main goal now is that we identify a cause,\u201d Dodart said. \u201cIn the future, hopefully we can focus on finding some solutions, some non-hormonal treatments, because we are looking for a treatable dysfunction.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Wellcome grant could provide up to $1 million of total funding for the HMB study, spread out over three years. Though women\u2019s health remains a largely underfunded area of science, the landscape is beginning to shift thanks to researchers like Ku and Dodart.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis is a widespread problem that not too many people have studied,\u201d Ku said. \u201cWhat we are studying is one of the treatable causes for heavy menstrual bleeding that we could actually change the outcome of right now.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Study Could Eventually Result in Improved Diagnostic Tool and Treatments for Common Disorder "}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EHeavy menstrual bleeding (HMB) affects up to one-third of the human population and can create symptoms severe enough to lead to hospitalization, yet much about what causes it remains a mystery. David Ku, a faculty member in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/bioresearch.gatech.edu\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EParker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience\u003C\/a\u003E, has received initial funding of $466,000 from \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/wellcomeleap.org\/the-missed-vital-sign\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EWellcome Leap\u003C\/a\u003E to study whether clotting disorders contribute to HMB.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Science has historically overlooked diseases and conditions that predominantly affect women, but one Georgia Tech researcher and his doctoral student are working to change that. "}],"uid":"36479","created_gmt":"2026-06-12 13:12:55","changed_gmt":"2026-06-12 15:21:47","author":"abowman41","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-06-12T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-06-12T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"680456":{"id":"680456","type":"image","title":"HMB---Raphaelle-1.jpg","body":"\u003Cp\u003EDoctoral student Raphaelle Dodart looks through a microscope at a small sample of clotted blood contained in a microfluidic chip.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1781269982","gmt_created":"2026-06-12 13:13:02","changed":"1781269982","gmt_changed":"2026-06-12 13:13:02","alt":"A woman in a laboratory wearing a white lab coat looks through a microscope on a benchtop. Petri dishes and a digital scale sit nearby, with lab supplies and equipment arranged on shelves and counters. A window in the background shows greenery outside, and cables connect the microscope to nearby devices.","file":{"fid":"264718","name":"HMB---Raphaelle-1.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/06\/12\/HMB---Raphaelle-1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/06\/12\/HMB---Raphaelle-1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":116366,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/06\/12\/HMB---Raphaelle-1.jpg?itok=05VYGJ1j"}}},"media_ids":["680456"],"groups":[{"id":"1292","name":"Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience (IBB)"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"188776","name":"go-research"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"188084","name":"go-ipat"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAshlie Bowman | Communications Manager\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EParker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}