Dr Lucy Whitaker
Research interests and grants.
Dr Lucy Whitaker (MBChB, MD, MSc, MRCOG)
Lead for clinical studies, EXPPECT Edinburgh
- Clinical Lecturer in Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Edinburgh
- Honorary Consultant, NHS Lothian
Contact details
- Email: Lucy.whitaker@ed.ac.uk
Research interests
My research has focused on management of chronic debilitating conditions across the reproductive life-course, including chronic pelvic pain (endometriosis) and abnormal uterine bleeding (fibroids).
Pelvic pain is responsible for a third of all unscheduled admissions to gynaecology. Many of these patients have underlying endometriosis, a chronic neuroinflammatory pain condition affecting ~190 million women worldwide, a similar prevalence to diabetes in women. As well as resulting in high use of unscheduled care resources, pelvic pain ‘flares’ contribute to decreased physical and mental health and reduced work and education participation. Endometriosis is poorly managed and costs the UK £8.2 billion every year in socioeconomic costs.
My research theme is focused on translational research towards precision treatments for pelvic pain. It encompasses the investigation of potential for patient stratification and prediction of treatment response using clinical/biological data profiles from women with endometriosis and a programme of drug repurposing and surgical trials to produce rapid change in national clinical guidelines
Current Research Projects
ENDOCAN-1: a pilot randomised controlled trial of the efficacy of a cannabinoid oral tincture in the management of endometriosis-associated pain
L Whitaker (Chief Investigator), A Horne, J Daniels, L Saraswat, S Lewis, H Durand, A Neilson and E Cox
2023-2026 Chief Scientist Office Translational Clinical Studies Grant (TCS/22/28)
EPiC2 A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled feasibility trial to evaluate dichloroacetate in the management of endometriosis-associated pain
L Whitaker (Chief Investigator), A Horne, J Daniels, L Saraswat, MC Jones and C Graham
2023-2026 Wellbeing of Women Project Grant (RG2415)
Improving understanding of endometriosis pain flares to support patients with self-management and prevention (EndoFLARE): a feasibility study
L Whitaker
2023-2024 Academy of Medical Sciences Starter Grant (SGL028\1025)
ESPriT2: A multi-centre randomised controlled trial to determine the effectiveness of laparoscopic treatment of isolated superficial peritoneal endometriosis for the management of chronic pelvic pain in women
L Whitaker (co-Chief Investigator), A Horne, (co-Chief Investigator), J Norrie, J Stephen, J Daniels, K Cooper, J Clark, J Thornton, Y Cheong, A Maheshwari, C Becker, K Vincent, L Jackson, E Cox, L Hummelshoj)
2021-2026 National Institute for Health Research HTA (NIHR129801)
ENVISION: ENdometroisis biomarker VerIfication Sample collectiON.
L Whitaker (co-Chief Investigator), A Horne, (co-Chief Investigator), M Hund, A-M Olziersky, D Allegranza
2021-2024 Roche Diagnostics
Staff/Group Members
Selected recent publications
- *Whitaker LHR, Middleton LJ, Daniels JP, Williams ARW, Priest L, Odedra S, Cheed V, Stubbs CE, Clark TJ, Lumsden MA, Hapangama DK, Bhattacharya S, Smith PP, Elaine P. Nicholls EP, Roberts N, Semple SI, Saraswat L, Walker J, Chodankar RR, Critchley HOD on behalf of the UCON Collaborative. Ulipristal acetate versus levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system for heavy menstrual bleeding (UCON): a randomised controlled trial eClinicalMedicine (clinm-D-22-02696; in press)
- Whitaker LHR, Middleton LJ, Daniels JP, Priest L, Odedra S, Cheed V et al. Ulipristal acetate versus levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system for heavy menstrual bleeding: the UCON RCT and mechanism of action study. Efficacy Mech Eval. 2023; 10 (in press)
- Moakes C, Tong S, Middleton L, Duncan WC, Mol B, Whitaker LHR, Jurkovic D, Coomarasamy A, Nunes N, Holland T, Clarke F, Sutherland L, Doust A, Peace-Gadsby A, Daniels J, Horne AW. GEM3: A multi-centre double-blind placebo-controlled randomised trial of a combination of methotrexate and gefitinib versus methotrexate alone as a treatment for ectopic pregnancy. Efficacy Mech Eval. 2023; 10 (in press)
- Horne AW, Tong S, Moakes C, Middleton L, Duncan WC, Mol B, Whitaker LHR, Jurkovic D, Coomarasamy A, Nunes N, Holland T, Clarke F, Doust A, Daniels J. Combination gefitinib and methotrexate to treat tubal ectopic pregnancy (GEM3): a multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Lancet. 2023; S0140-6736(22)02478-3
- Ye L, Whitaker LHR, Mawson RL, Hickey M. Endometriosis BMJ. 2022; 379:e068950
- Whitaker LHR, Saraswat L, Horne AW. Combination GnRH antagonists for endometriosis: Balancing efficacy with side effects. Cell Rep Med. 2022; 3(9):100748
- *Warner P, Whitaker LHR, Parker RA, Weir CJ, Douglas A, Hansen CH, Madhra M, Hillier SG, Saunders PTK, Iredale JP, Semple S, Slayden OD, Walker BR, Critchley HOD. Low dose dexamethasone as treatment for women with heavy menstrual bleeding: A response-adaptive randomised placebo-controlled dose-finding parallel group trial (DexFEM). eBioMedicine. 2021; 69:103434
- Chodankar RR, Murray AA, Nicol M, Whitaker LHR, Williams ARW, Critchley HOD. The endometrial response to modulation of ligand-progesterone receptor pathways is reversible. Fertil Steril. 2021;116(3):882-894
- *Leow HW, Koscielniak M, Williams L, Saunders PTK, Daniels J, Doust AM, Jones MC, Ferguson GD, Bagger Y, Horne AW, Whitaker LHR. Dichloroacetate as a possible treatment for endometriosis-associated pain: a single-arm open label exploratory clinical trial (EPiC). Pilot Feasibility Stud. 2021; 7(1):67
- Whitaker LHR, Doust A, Stephen J, Norrie J, Cooper K, Daniels J, Hummelshoj L, Cox E, Beatty L, Chien P, Madhra M, Vincent K, Horne AWH. Laparoscopic treatment of isolated superficial peritoneal endometriosis for managing chronic pelvic pain in women: study protocol for a randomised controlled feasibility trial (ESPriT1). Pilot Feasibility Stud. 2021; 7(1):19
Principle Collaborators
University of Edinburgh
- Professor Andrew Horne, MRC CRH (pelvic pain and clinical trials)
- Professors Philippa Saunders and Dr Doug Gibson, CIR (fibrosis/steroid micro-environments)
- Professor Thanasis Tsanas, Usher (wearable tech data and algorithmic analysis of combined datasets)
- Professor Hilary Critchley and Dr Jackie Maybin, MRC CRH (chronic reproductive conditions co-existing with chronic pelvic pain: adenomyosis and abnormal uterine bleeding)
- Professor John Norrie, ECTU (clinical trials).
- Professor Marie Fallon, IGMM (clinical trials).
UK
- Professor Katy Vincent, University of Oxford (pelvic pain mechanisms, including functional MRI and clinical trials)
- Professor Krina Zondervan, University of Oxford (Genome Wide Association Studies)
- Professor Justin Clark, Birmingham Women's and Children's NHS Foundation Trust (clinical trials)
- Professor Jane Daniels, University of Nottingham (clinical trials)
- Dr Siobhain O’Mahony, University College Cork (gut microbiome)
- Dr Lucky Saraswat, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary (clinical trials)
- Dr Hannah Durand, University of Stirling (qualitative research)
Links