The OHSU Center for Women’s Health’s Circle of Giving has invested $125,000 in a pilot study: Better sweet bugs in the bladder: could urinary sugars help women with overactive bladder symptoms?

Overactive bladder syndrome affects one in six people, and most of them are women. It causes symptoms like urgency, frequency, nighttime voiding, and incontinence that can drastically affect quality of life.

This pilot study is by Lisa Karstens, Ph.D., assistant professor of medical informatics and clinical epidemiology, and Jean-Philippe Gourdine, Ph.D., senior research associate in Dr. Karstens lab. The research will take a closer look at bacteria in the bladder with the goal of developing an effective therapy for women who experience overactive bladder syndrome.

Until recently, little was known about the bacterial community that lives in the bladder. In fact, the bladder was thought to be sterile in the absence of infection, but scientists have recently discovered this isn’t true.

Drs. Karstens and Gourdine are studying the sugar molecules in our bladders that bacteria feed on and produce. Their goal is to understand how bladder bacteria modify these sugars and whether and how this benefits women’s health.

For 15 years, the members of the OHSU Center for Women’s Health Circle of Giving have been investing in women’s health research. $2.9 million later, they’ve supported 25 OHSU-led pilot studies on areas including Alzheimer’s, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, heart disease, stroke, menopause, opioid addiction, and maternal fetal health.

This is their first investment in the area of overactive bladder syndrome.

“The prevalence of this issue in women is huge,” says Circle of Giving co-chair Teri Oelrich about why the group chose this project. “It can be life-changing, sometimes causing isolation and embarrassment.”

Circle of Giving investments have led to over $30 million in additional grant funds for projects researchers are doing based on findings from the Circle-supported pilot studies.

“We are the only group in the country that grants funds specifically to pilot projects in the area of women’s health,” says Patti Warner, the other co-chair of the Circle of Giving. “Historically, so much research has been conducted on men and then adapted to women. We’re helping to change that.”