Interstitial Cystitis

Patients with interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome may experience recurring severe pelvic pain, pressure, and urinary frequency and urgency. Symptoms can result in fatigue, sexual dysfunction, depression, and even suicidal ideation. The economic cost of interstitial cystitis is 2.0-2.4 times higher than age-matched peers.

 

While there is no cure for interstitial cystitis, some patients can experience some relief with appropriate treatment and early diagnosis can lead to a better prognosis and decreased health care costs. There is currently no commercial laboratory test to diagnose or classify interstitial cystitis patients, representing a significant unmet medical need.

Research Goals

 
  1. Understand the underlying causes of Interstitial cystitis/Bladder Pain Syndrome
    2.  
  2. Create clinical tools for diagnosis and individualized guided treatment
    3.  
  3. Develop new therapeutics for treating IC.
Interstitial Cystitis sample box 

Using a novel urine preservative, we were able to crowd-source over 450 samples from 46 of the United States, without requiring cold-chain shipping methods.

Interstitial Cystiti graph



Utilizing machine learning algorithms, we developed a diagnostic score for determining if a patient has IC based on predictive biomarkers.