In this special episode, Dr Natalie Hutchins convenes five leading endometriosis experts at the 16th World Congress on Endometriosis in Sydney (May 2025) to take listeners behind the scenes of cutting-edge research and patient care. You’ll hear from Dr Siew Lim, Prof Caroline Ford, Prof Holly Harris, Dr Lydia Coxon and Prof Antonina Mikocka-Walus as they discuss advances in diagnosis, nutrition, lifestyle and behavioural interventions, and the psychological dimensions of living with endometriosis. Together, they offer fresh insights and hopes for the future of endometriosis science and care.

Dr Siew Lim is an Australian Accredited Practising Dietitian and health systems and equity researcher at Monash University, specialising in reproductive-age women’s health. With a background in physiology and nutrition, she earned her PhD in 2010 investigating weight management in young women. Her research addresses lifestyle behaviour change across disorders such as endometriosis, PCOS, gestational diabetes, and metabolic risk. She has contributed to clarifying how dietary and behavioural interventions may help manage endometriosis symptoms and associated metabolic dysfunction. She has published over 95 journal articles, secured more than AUD 6 million in grants, and holds leadership roles in professional societies.

Professor Caroline Ford is a leading Australian medical researcher based at the University of New South Wales. She is Science Director of the new Ainsworth Endometriosis Research Insitute in NSW and heads the Gynaecological Cancer Research Group (GCRG), focusing on ovarian and endometrial cancers — from early detection strategies to novel anti-metastatic therapies. She has also advanced understanding of endometriosis through research into its molecular drivers, aiming to improve diagnosis and treatment. She founded the STEMMinist Book Club and has championed science communication and health literacy nationally. She’s a co-founder of the “Ovaries. Talk About Them” campaign.

Professor Holly R. Harris is an epidemiologist and public health scholar whose research intersects women’s health, nutrition, and disease prevention. Based at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, she investigates how diet, lifestyle, and gene–environment interactions influence risks for ovarian cancer, breast cancer, endometriosis and uterine fibroids. She currently leads dietary intervention trials in women with endometriosis to assess pain reduction and quality-of-life improvements. Her work also involves characterizing risk factors and interrelations among hormonally mediated conditions to inform targeted prevention and screening strategies.

Dr Lydia Coxon is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oxford in the Pain in Women and EndoCaRe groups, specialising in mechanisms of pelvic pain. Her doctoral work examined whether endometriosis pain may include neuropathic-like components using fMRI, quantitative sensory testing and patient questionnaires. She contributed to the Translational Research in Pelvic Pain (TRiPP) and RoADPain studies, exploring pain stratification and risk factors for chronic pelvic pain. Her publications discuss evolving models of endometriosis-associated pain and prospects for targeted therapy.

Professor Antonina Mickoka-Walus is a Professor of Health Psychology at Deakin University, renowned for her work in behavioural medicine and psychogastroenterology, where she explores the interaction between psychological states and gastrointestinal disorders. Her research spans clinical trials, observational studies, and systematic reviews, particularly focusing on how interventions like CBT and acceptance and commitment therapy can modulate disease activity. In recent years, she has extended her work into the domain of chronic pelvic pain and endometriosis, investigating the psychological burden, diagnostic delays, and supportive therapies for this condition.