Cyprus Women's Health Research (COHERE) Initiative
She is the principal investigator of COHERE Initiative, which aims to understand women’s health in Cyprus and disease patterns in the Eastern Mediterranean region. The initiative also seeks to investigate how the ‘Mediterranean lifestyle’ and genetic factors influence women’s health in this population, with the goal of developing a comprehensive , which is envisaged to grow into an Eastern Mediterranean women’s health resource. The first phase, involving recruitment of 10% sample of women between the ages of 18-55 residing in Northern Cyprus (N=7646) and genotyping a subset of 700 women has been completed. Publications arising from the study can be reached below. Please contact me for any interest in collaboration. For more information please visit: www.cohereinitiative.org and https://www.facebook.com/KISAAInisiyatifi/
You can read about the fundraising conducted to bring the project life here: https://www.obs-gyn.ox.ac.uk/news/initiative-to-collect-womens-health-data-in-northern-cyprus-supported-by-multiple-donations
COHERE Initiative Publications:
1. Swift B, Taneri B, Becker CM, Basarir H, Naci H, Missmer SA, Zondervan KT, Rahmioglu N. Prevalence, diagnostic delay and economic burden of endometriosis and its impact on quality of life: results from an Eastern Mediterranean population. Eur J Public Health. 2023 Dec 9:ckad216. doi: 10.1093/eurpub/ckad216.
2. Swift B, Taneri B, Cagnan I, Becker CM, Zondervan KT, Quigley MA, Rahmioglu N. Predictors and trends of Caesarean section and breastfeeding in the Eastern Mediterranean region: data from the cross-sectional Cyprus Women’s Health Research (COHERE) Initiative. PlosOne. 2023 Jul 7;18(7):e0287469. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0287469.
3. Swift B, Naci H, Taneri B, Becker CM, Zondervan KT, Rahmioglu N. The Cyprus Women’s Health Research (COHERE) Initiative: normative data from the SF-36v2 questionnaire for reproductive aged women from the Eastern Mediterranean. Qual Life Res. 2022 Feb 14. doi: 10.1007/s11136-022-03100-7.
4. Mis C, Kofali G, Swift B, Yalcin-Bahat P, Senocak G, Taneri B, Hummelshoj L, Missmer SA, Becker CM, Zondervan KT, Yuksel-Ozgor B, Oral E, Inceboz U, Hocaoglu MB, Rahmioglu N. Protocol for the Cultural Translation and Adaptation of the World Endometriosis Research Foundation Endometriosis Phenome and Biobanking Harmonization Project Endometriosis Participant Questionnaire (EPHect). Front. Glob. Womens Health. 2021 Mar 26; https://doi.org/10.3389/fgwh.2021.644609.
5. Hocaoglu MB, Gurkas S, Karaderi T, Taneri B, Erguler K, Barin B, Bilgin EM, Eralp G, Alisson M, Tarhan M, Koparan A, Ipciler K, Pekri Z, Savas P, Ozgenc I, Ozgenc B, Gokcebel S, Findikli N, Boynukalin K, Bahceci M, Naci H, Vincent K, Missmer SA, Becker CB, Zondervan KT, Rahmioglu N. Protocol for Cyprus Women’s Health Research (COHERE) Initiative: A Cross-Sectional Study. BMC Women’s Health. 2019 Apr 3; 19(1):50.
6. Rahmioglu N, Naci H, Cylus J. Improving health care services in Northern Cyprus: a call for research and action. Eur J Public Health. 2012 Dec;22(6):754-755.
Dr Nilufer Rahmioglu
Senior research scientist, with genetic epidemiology and environmental health background, investigating genetic and environmental factors of complex traits, in particular women's health conditions with substantial public health impact. She is also a fellow at Nuffield Department of Women's and Reproductive Health, John Radcliffe Hospital.
Current research is on investigation of genetic and environmental background of endometriosis and related co-morbidities. More specifically;
I. Lead analyst of the latest International Endometriosis Genomics Consortium genome-wide association analysis to elucidate genetic susceptibility variants for endometriosis, its subtypes and related co-morbidities.
II. Investigation of phenotypic and shared genetic associations between endometriosis and other complex disease including obesity-related traits, gynaecological disorders, chronic pain conditions, endocrinological disease using various resources including the UK Biobank.
III. Design and maintenance of the Endometriosis Oxford (ENDOX) study, an on-going prospective study of women undergoing a laparoscopy at the Oxford Endometriosis CaRe centre.
IV. Investigation of variability in transcriptomic (RNAseq, miRNA, mRNA) and epigenomic (DNA methylation) profiles of eutopic/ectopic endometrium and fat tissues to understand the underlying functional roles of the genetic risk factors of endometriosis and related co-morbidities.
V. Development of global consensus on standardized clinical data collection and standard operating protocols for biological sample collection in endometriosis research under the WERF Endometriosis Phenome and Biobanking Harmonization Project (EPHect) www.endometriosisfoundation.org/ephect.
Key Publications:
Mackenzie SC, Rahmioglu N, Romaniuk L, Collins F, Coxon L, Whalley CH, Vincent K, Zondervan KT, Horne AW, Whitaker LHR. Genome-wide association reveals a locus in neuregulin 3 associated with gabapentin efficacy in women with chronic pelvic pain. iScience, 2024 Jul 15. doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2024.110370
Gibbons T, Rahmioglu N, Zondervan KT, Becker CM. Crimson clues: advancing endometriosis detection and management with novel blood biomarkers. Fertil Steril. 2024 Feb; 121(2):145-163. doi: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2023.12.018.
Rahmioglu N, Mortlock S, Ghiasi M, Moller PL, Stefansdottir L, Galarneau G, et al., The Genetic Basis of Endometriosis and Comorbidity with other Pain and Inflammatory conditions. Nat Genet. 2023 Mar;55(3):423-436. doi: 10.1038/s41588-023-01323-z.
Mortlock S*, Houshdaran S*, Kosti I*, Rahmioglu N*, NezhatC, Vitonis AF, et al., Global endometrial DNA methylation analysis reveals insights into mQTL regulation and associated endometriosis disease risk and endometrial function. Commun Bio. 2023 Aug 16;6(1):780. doi: 10.1038/s42003-023-05070-z. (*Shared first author).
Sliz E, Tyrmi JS, Rahmioglu N, Zondervan KT, Becker CM, FinnGen, Uimari O, Kettunen J. Evidence of a causal effect on genetic tendency to gain muscle mass on uterine leiomyomata. Nat Commun. 2023 Feb 1;14(1):542. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-35974-7.
Tapmeier TT*, Rahmioglu N*, Lin J*, De Leo B, Obendorf M, Raveendran M, et al. Neuropeptide S Receptor 1 is a Novel Non-Hormonal Treatment Target in Endometriosis. Science Translational Medicine. 2021 Aug 25; 13(608):eabd6469. doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abd6469 (*Shared first author).
Mousa M, Al-Jefout M, Alsafar H, Becker CM*, Zondervan KT*, Rahmioglu N*. Impact of Endometriosis in Women of Arab Ancestry on: Health-Related Quality of Life, Work Productivity, and Diagnostic Delay. Front. Glob. Womens Health. 2021 Sep. doi.org/10.3389/fgwh.2021.708410. (*Shared last author).
Venkatesh SS, Ferreira T, Benonisdottir S, Rahmioglu N, Becker CM, Granne I, Zondervan KT, Holmes MV, Lindgren CM, Wittemans LBL.Obesity and risk of female reproductive conditions: A mendelian randomisation study. PLoS Med. 2022 Feb 1;19(2):e10036779. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1003679.
Rahmioglu N*, Gallagher CS*, Mäkinen N*, Harris HR*, Uimari O, Cook JP, Shigesi N, Ferreira T, Velez-Edwards DR, Edwards TL, Mortlock S, Ruhioglu Z, Day F, Becker CM, Karhunen V, Martikainen H, Järvelin MR, Cantor RM, Ridker PM, Terry KL, Buring JE, Gordon SD, Medland SE, Montgomery GW, Nyholt DR, Hinds DA, Tung JY; 23andMe Research Team, Perry JRB, Lind PA, Painter JN, Martin NG, Morris AP, Chasman DI, Missmer SA, Zondervan KT, Morton CC. Genome-wide association and epidemiological analyses reveal common genetic origins between uterine leiomyomata and endometriosis. Nat Commun. 2019 Oct 24;10(1):4857 (*Shared first author)
Shigesi N, Kvaskoff M, Kirtley S, Feng Q, Fang H, Knight J, Missmer SA, Rahmioglu N*, Zondervan K*, Becker CM*. Is Endometriosis Associated with Autoimmune Disease? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Hum Reprod Update. 2019 Jul 1;25(4):486-503 (*Shared last author).
Laisk T, Kukuskina V, Palmer D, Laber S, Chen CY, Ferreira T, Rahmioglu N, Zondervan K, Becker CB, Smoller JW, Lippincott M, Salumets A, Granne I, Seminara S, Neale B, Magi R, Lindgren. CM. Large-scale meta-analysis highlights the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis in the genetic regulation of menstrual cycle length. Hum Mol Genet. 2018 Dec 15;27(24):4323-4332.
Rahmioglu N*, Drong AW*, Lockstone H, Tapmeier T, Hellner K, Saare M, Laisk-Podar T, Dew C, Tough E, Nicholson G, Peters M, Morris AP, Lindgren CM, Becker CM, Zondervan KT. Variability of genome-wide DNA methylation and mRNA expression profiles in endometrium, endometriotic disease and adipose tissues: implications for reproductive and endocrine disease studies. Epigenetics. 2017 Nov 3;12(1):897-908 (*Shared first author).
Rahmioglu N*, Uimari O*, Nyholt DR, Vincent K, Missmer SA, Becker C, Morris AP, Montgomery GW, Zondervan KT. Genome-wide genetic analyses highlight MAPK signalling in the pathogenesis of endometriosis. Hum Reprod.2017 Feb 9; 1-14 (*Shared first author).
Rahmioglu N, Macgregor S, Drong AW, Harris HR, The International EndoGene Consortium, The GIANT Consortium, Morris A, Missmer SA, Montgomery GW, Lindgren CM, Zondervan KT. Genome-wide enrichment analysis between endometriosis and obesity-related traits reveals novel susceptibility loci. Hum Mol Genet. 2015 Feb;24(4):1185-1199.
Fassbender A*, Rahmioglu N*, Vitonis AF*, Vigano P, Giudice LC, D’Hooghe TM, Hummelshoj L, Adamson GD, Becker CM, Missmer SA, Zondervan KT for WERF EPHect Group. WERF Endometriosis Phenome and biobanking harmonization project (EPHect): IV. Tissue collection, processing and storage in endometriosis research. Fertil Steril. 2014 Nov;102(5):1244-1253 (*Shared first author).
Rahmioglu N*, Fassbender A*, Vitonis AF*, Tworoger S, Hummelshoj L, D’Hooghe TM, Adamson GD, Giudice LC, Becker CM, Zondervan KT, Missmer SA for WERF EPHect Group. WERF Endometriosis Phenome and biobanking harmonization project (EPHect): III. Fluid biospecimen collection, processing and storage in endometriosis research. Fertil Steril. 2014 Nov;102(5):1233-1243 (*Shared first author).
Vitonis AF*, Vincent K*, Rahmioglu N*, Fassbender A*, Buck Louis GM, Hummelshoj L, Giudice LC, Stratton P, Adamson GD, Becker CM, Missmer SA, Zondervan KT for WERF EPHect Group. WERF Endometriosis Phenome and biobanking harmonization project (EPHect): II. Clinical and covariate phenotype data collection in endometriosis research. Fertil Steril. 2014 Nov;102(5):1223-1232 (*Shared first author).
Rahmioglu N, Nyholt DR, Morris AP, Missmer SA, Montgomery GW, Zondervan KT. Genetic variants underlying risk of endometriosis: insights from meta-analysis of eight genome-wide association and replication datasets. Hum Reprod Update. 2014 Sep-Oct;20(5):702-716.
Rahmioglu N, Heaton J, Clement G, Gill R, Surdulescu G, Hodgkiss D, Smith NW, Ahmadi KR. Genome-wide association study reveals a complex genetic architecture underpinning induced CYP3A4 enzyme activity. Eur J Drug Metab Pharmacokinet. 2013 Mar;38(1):63-67.
Rahmioglu N, Missmer SA, Montgomer GW, Zondervan KT. Insights into assessing the genetics of endometriosis. Curr Obstet Gynecol Rep. 2012 Sep;1(3):124-137.
Rahmioglu N, Heaton J, Yong M, Hider RC, Smith NW, Ahmadi KR. Genetic Epidemiology of induced CYP3A4 activity. Pharmacogenetics and Genomics. 2011 Oct; 21(10):642-651.
Rahmioglu N, Le Gall G, Philo M, Colquhoun I, Ahmadi KR, Kemsley K. Prediction of variability in CYP3A4 induction through an integrative 1H NMR metabonomics approach. J Proteome Research. 2011 Jun; 10(6):2807-2816.
Chambers JC, Zhang W, Sehmi J, Li X, Wass MN, Van der Harst P, Holm H, Sanna S, Kavousi M, Baumeister SE, Coin LJ, Deng G, Gieger C, Heard-Costa NL, Hottenga JJ, Kühnel B, Kumar V, Lagou V, Liang L, Luan J, Vidal PM, Leach IM, O'Reilly PF, Peden JF, Rahmioglu N, et al. Genome-wide association study identifies loci influencing concentrations of liver enzymes in plasma. Nature Genetics. 2011 Oct; 43(11):1131-1138.
Rahmioglu N, Ahmadi KR. Classical twin design in modern pharmacogenomics studies. Pharmacogenomics. 2010 Feb; 11(2):215-226.
Rahmioglu N, Andrew T, Cherkas L, Surdulescu G, Swaminathan R, Spector T, Ahmadi KR. Epidemiology and genetic epidemiology of liver function test proteins. PLoS One. 2009; 4(2):e4435.