IRR People: Abbie Lacy-Darrah

We spoke to IRR Communications and Engagement Officer Abbie Lacy-Darrah about her role supporting the ENDO1000 project and EXPPECT centre within the Centre for Reproductive Health.

What is your background?

I always joke that I really didn’t do well at my Science GCSEs so I did a Drama degree! From there I started doing communications for theatre companies. I worked in the charity sector for three years, which is really where I learned everything.

Now I’m here working closely with the endometriosis researchers and clinical nurses which is really cool. I get to find out so much that I didn’t already know and I’m understanding the medical side of things the more that I’m there.

What is ENDO1000?

The ENDO1000 project aims to find a thousand people with endometriosis and give them smartwatches to track their flares, their diet, and their exercise – that sort of thing. The hope is to then use the data to find out more about endometriosis and what affects it. Hopefully that will lead to quicker diagnosis times and more information about endometriosis so that the quality of care is improved.

What exciting things are coming up?

We’re putting together our first boxes at the moment which have things like the smartwatches and testing kits. They’re going out very soon. Very excitingly, we have a live podcast recording with Jessica Knappett. She’s a comedian that is probably most known for Taskmaster, but she also has a podcast called ‘Perfect Day’ where she asks a special guest about their perfect morning, afternoon and evening. So this will be a live podcast recording that we’re doing during the Fringe. It’s on August 19^th and we’re really excited. All of the ticket sales will go towards ENDO1000 which is amazing. It’s at St. Cecilia’s Hall at 3:30pm.

How can people get involved with ENDO1000?

To recruit one participant, we need £1000. At the moment we have enough funding to start recruiting. We will have around 200 people in autumn but we are looking for more. Obviously, we would like to make it to a thousand people, and so people are fundraising for us by doing things such as the Kilt Walk – we’ve had a couple of people run the marathon, which is amazing – but there’s also different ways to fundraise, such as our Jessica Knappett event.

If you’re interested in finding out more we are @ENDO1000project on Instagram, TikTok, X, Bluesky, LinkedIn and YouTube.

What’s your favourite thing about working in Communications?

Specifically in endometriosis comms, I’m enjoying the engagement we’re getting on our posts. We recently had a TikTok that hit 21,000 views and all of the comments were so supportive of the research. People are really excited that there’s going to be more research into endometriosis and the community of people who have endometriosis is so strong across social media. It’s really nice seeing how they engage with our posts, their excitement for the project and how hopeful it is making them.

I also do just love creating content. I love taking photos and being able to be really creative with it as well. I think, especially in science comms, because I’ve not really done it before and it’s a specific niche, I’m really enjoying coming up with the content and making something a little bit different than what I usually do.

What is the most interesting thing you’ve learned about endometriosis?

That’s a good question. I’ve been doing a lot of research and have learned a lot of things. One of the most interesting thigs that I’m having a look into at the moment is ‘endo belly’ which is like abdominal inflammation. It can be so bad that people look six months pregnant, which is kind of crazy to me.

One of the most insane things is that doctors will sometimes tell women to get pregnant to stop their endometriosis symptoms. And the fact the 1 in 10 people have it and it takes between 7-10 years to get it diagnosed.

What do you enjoy about working at IRR?

I am really enjoying it. I think I’m in my third month now, but I’ve had a really great time so far. Everyone is so nice. The entire team have been really welcoming and happy to help and teach me all of things that I don’t already know.

What do you do in your free time?

I run a theatre company, so I really enjoy doing that. Because I’m part-time at IRR, I also do some freelance theatre work, so at the moment I’m working on some sound and lighting design for the Edinburgh Fringe, which is really fun. Apart from that, I’m a massive bookworm. I read a lot and really love animals, so I try to get around dogs as much as possible!