Professor Andrew Horne (MB ChB, PhD, FRCOG, FRCP Edin, FRCSEd, FRSE, FMedSci)
Director of the Centre for Reproductive Health
- Centre for Reproductive Health
- Institute for Regeneration and Repair
Contact details
Address
- Street
-
Room 2.39
Centre for Reproductive Health
Institute for Regeneration and Repair (South)
University of Edinburgh
Edinburgh BioQuarter
4-5 Little France Drive - City
- Edinburgh
- Post code
- EH16 4UU
Background
Andrew is Director of the Centre for Reproductive Health at the University of Edinburgh. He is a leading researcher in women’s health problems, with a focus on endometriosis and pelvic pain, and has published over 200 peer-reviewed scientific articles. He is President-elect of the World Endometriosis Society and Trustee to Endometriosis UK.
Qualifications
2002 PhD; Title: The MUC1 mucin and endometrial receptivity; Imperial College London
2001 MRCOG; Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
1994 MBChB; University of Edinburgh
Responsibilities & affiliations
Professor of Gynaecology and Reproductive Sciences, The University of Edinburgh
Director of the Centre for Reproductive Health, The University of Edinburgh
Honorary Consultant Gynaecologist, NHS Lothian
Specialty Advisor to the Chief Medical Officer for Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Scottish Government
Adjunct Professor, University of Vienna
Open to PhD supervision enquiries?
Yes
Current PhD students supervised
Kexin Dong 2024-current; Primary supervisor; PhD in progress – clinical
Macrophage-targeted therapy for endometriosis
Francesca Hearn-Yeates 2020-current; Primary supervisor; PhD in progress – non-clinical
Investigating the impact of diet on endometriosis-associated pain
Katherine Edgley 2019-current; Primary supervisor; PhD in progress – non-clinical
New insights into longitudinal endometriosis symptom trajectories using wearable technology
Heather Flanagan 2020-current; Primary supervisor; PhD submitted – non-clinical
The aetiology of ectopic pregnancy
Research summary
Andrew has a vision that ultimately all medical interventions for women with endometriosis will have an underlying evidence base, demonstrating that their action does more good than harm. In case of uncertainty, he believes that patients must be informed of the evidence gap, and optimally, be offered participation in a clinical trial.
To achieve this goal, he has established EXPPECT Edinburgh. EXPPECT brings together individuals involved in the clinical care of women with pelvic pain and endometriosis with discovery scientists to form a hub within which innovative approaches to pelvic pain treatment can be developed in collaboration with commercial partners.
With the support of the EXPPECT team, he is most proud of the work that he has carried out to further the understanding of the aetiology of endometriosis and develop a potential non-hormonal treatment for the condition.
His studies have shown that peritoneal mesothelial cells from women with endometriosis have an altered metabolic phenotype, similar to cancer cells. This finding has underpinned a body of work which has demonstrated that it is possible to treat women with endometriosis with a drug that has previously been tested in cancer and led to exploratory clinical trials in women. Taken together, his findings provide the rationale for targeting metabolic processes as a non-contraceptive treatment for women with endometriosis either as primary non-hormonal management or to prevent recurrence after surgery.
Current project grants
Chief Scientist Office (£299,477) 2024-2027 MAC-Endo: A proof-of-concept and feasibility study of macrophage-targeted immunotherapy in the management of endometriosis-associated pain. Horne AW (CI), Dhaun N, Greaves E, Moakes C, Durand H, Cox E
Wellbeing of Women (£249,849) 2023-2026 A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled feasibility trial to evaluate dichloroacetate in the management of endometriosis-associated pain (EPiC2). Whitaker L (CI), Horne AW, Daniels J, Saraswat L, Jones MC, Graham C
Chief Scientist Office (£299,509) 2023-2026 ENDOCAN-1: a pilot randomised controlled trial of the efficacy of a cannabinoid oral tincture in the management of endometriosis-associated pain. Whitaker L (CI), Horne AW, Daniels J, Saraswat L, Lewis S, Durand H, Neilson A, Cox E
UKRI (£4,100,000) 2021-2025 MICA: ADVANTAGE visceral pain consortium: Advanced Discovery of Visceral Analgesics via Neuroimmune Targets and the Genetics of Extreme human phenotype. Woods G (CI), Horne AW, Lee M, Malliaris G, St John Smith E, Andersson D, Denk F, Williams A, Tsanas T, Saunders P
Roche Diagnostics Research Grant (£414,000) 2021-2024 ENVISION: Endometriosis biomarker Study. Horne AW (CI), Whitaker LHR, Hund H, Olziersky A-M, Allegranza D
NIHR HTA (£1,728,286) 2020-2025 Deep infiltrating endometriosis: management by medical treatment versus early surgery: DIAMOND. Clark TJ (CI), Cooper K (co-CI), Bhattacharya S, Byrne D, Smith P, Horne AW, Amer S, Maclennan G, Scotland G, Murchie P, Gillies K, Gamaleldin I, Vashisht A, Cox E
NIHR HTA (£2,057,700) 2020-2025 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. Horne AW (CI), Whitaker L (co-CI), Norrie J, Daniels J, Stephens J, Cooper K, Clark TJ, Becker C, Cheong Y, Thornton J, Maheshwari A, Vincent K, Jackson L, Cox, E, Hummelshoj L, King K
NIHR HTA (£1,660,141) 2020-2025 Recurrence of Endometriosis: a randomised controlled trial of clinical and cost-effectiveness of Gonadotrophin Releasing Hormone Analogues with add-back hormone replacement therapy versus repeat Laparoscopic surgery (REGAL trial). Saraswat L (CI), Cooper K, Bhattacharya S, Horne AW, Clark TJ, Becker C, Vyas S, Saridogan E, McLennan G, Scotland G, Gillies K, Jones G.