Senior health sciences major Erin Huttula has won a prestigious award for her senior capstone research.

Huttula won the first place paper award for the health sciences category at the Alabama Academy of Science 98^th Annual Meeting held March 18 and 19. Her paper is titled “The Comparative Effectiveness of Current Medical Treatments for Endometriosis: A Systematic Review.”

The Alabama Academy of Science brings together natural scientists, social scientists, health scientists, and engineers from across the state to share their work. This was the first conference Huttula has taken part in before.

For her research, Huttula worked with advisor Dr. Katie Gibbs, assistant professor of biology, and studied how various treatments reduced pain and/or reduced the presence of endometriosis, a disease in which the endometrium or uterine lining implants itself into various tissues throughout the body.

“I found that progestin- or estrogen-based contraceptives are particularly helpful in reducing pain, and that having displaced endometrial tissue removed via surgery before beginning medical treatment also helps reduce pain,” Huttula says. “I did not find any data on whether these treatments reduce the amount of endometrial tissue present because this has not been researched in primary studies.”

Huttula says that endometriosis affects approximately one in 10 premenopausal women worldwide, but the disease lacks adequate research attention despite its prevalence. Learning more about the disease made her want to contribute more research.

“Endometriosis affects so many people worldwide, but it is not heavily researched due to the stigma of female reproductive diseases,” she says.

After she graduates this spring, Huttula will attend Washington University in St. Louis’s physical therapy program, and she hopes to continue studying women’s health. She says the same stigma associated with endometriosis and other reproductive illnesses also plays a role in physical therapy practice.

“Lesser-known types of physical therapy are focused on managing female-specific health issues,” Huttula says. “I may choose to practice or even specialize in this type of therapy.”