Dr Mathew Leonardi

10/12/2026

Great to collaborate on this important work, just published!

🇨🇦 Why are Canadians leaving the country for endometriosis surgery?

Our newly published research in Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Canada highlights a concerning reality: patients are travelling abroad to access specialized surgical care, often because of long wait times and concerns about access to expertise in 🇨🇦.

📊 Key findings, for those who were seeking or received care abroad:

* 80.5% were dissatisfied with their care in Canada.
* Nearly 90% of those who underwent surgery abroad were satisfied with their care.
* $31,500 CAD was the average total cost per patient for surgery abroad.

The message is clear: Access to timely, specialized endometriosis care matters.

We need improved referral pathways, greater access to multidisciplinary expertise, and better coordination of care.

Patients should not have to leave Canada or face substantial financial burdens to access the care they need.

Improving access to endometriosis care is not just a healthcare priority. It is an issue of equity.

🔗 Singh et al. JOGC, 2026.

10/11/2026

What does deep endometriosis of the uterosacral ligaments actually look like on ultrasound? 🔎

A little glimpse into the (EEL) Masterclass in Malmö, Sweden! 🇸🇪

One of the most valuable aspects of these educational events is the combination of didactic learning with hands-on ultrasound training involving real patients, including the images featured in this reel.

Uterosacral ligament deep endometriosis can be subtle. Recognizing it requires more than knowing what a lesion looks like. It requires an understanding of pelvic anatomy, a systematic scanning technique, and knowing where and how to look.

And that’s why these masterclasses matter so much.

For healthcare professionals, they’re an opportunity to refine skills, exchange expertise, and translate knowledge into clinical practice.

For patients, the ultimate goal is better recognition of endometriosis, more accurate disease mapping, and better-informed treatment decisions.

Not all pelvic ultrasounds are equivalent. Training, technique, and experience matter.

Grateful for the opportunity to teach, learn, and connect with colleagues who share a passion for improving endometriosis care. 🙌

10/07/2026

🚨 **A huge new study from our team, now published in *The Lancet Regional Health – Americas*.**

**466,560 people. Population-based health data. And a question that could change how we think about chronic pelvic pain:**

What if the warning signs were already visible years before adulthood?

In this CanSAGE-funded ICES study of nearly **half a million people**, we looked back at what the health-care system was seeing during adolescence.

We found that gynecologic health concerns before age 18 were associated with a **41% higher risk of developing chronic pelvic pain in adulthood.**

But the story was bigger than any single diagnosis.

Adolescents who later developed chronic pelvic pain were already interacting with the health-care system with a broader pattern of gynecologic and reproductive concerns.

In other words, for some patients, adult chronic pelvic pain may have a **detectable clinical history years before it is formally recognized.**

This is important.

Because adolescence may not simply be the period *before* chronic pelvic pain begins. It may represent an important window for **earlier recognition, investigation, intervention, and potentially prevention of the long-term burden of pain.**

For our team, this is a major study: population-level data, nearly half a million people, and evidence that challenges us to think differently about when the chronic pelvic pain story actually begins.

**Swipe through for what we found →**

Link in bio!

10/05/2026

How can a man possibly understand what women go through?

As a male gynecologist, I hear some version of this often.

It's a fair question, and the honest answer is that most doctors don't experience the conditions they treat. An oncologist doesn't need cancer to treat it well. Not every gynecologist, of any gender, has lived through endometriosis, infertility, or pregnancy loss.

That doesn't erase the gap. I am not a person with lived experience. I will never know what it's like to have my pain doubted for years or to plan my life around symptoms. Training gives me one kind of expertise, and living it gives another. That's why people with lived experience need to shape how we research, diagnose, and treat these conditions.

What we owe patients is to listen, believe them, and act. That's the job, and it's why I chose it.

Women's health has never been only a women's issue. It shapes the lives of sisters, cousins, partners, children, parents, coworkers, and friends. When a woman waits years for an endometriosis diagnosis, the people around her wait too.

If the only people who cared about women's health were women, we would have a serious problem.

Women's health is everyone's health.

10/03/2026

Time for a reintroduction.

I’m Dr. Mathew Leonardi, a gynecologic surgeon and sonologist. I scan and I operate. In most places, the person doing your imaging and the person doing your surgery are two different people. For my patients, the same person who maps the endometriosis on ultrasound is the one who treats it in the operating room. My PhD at the University of Sydney was built on exactly this: using ultrasound to diagnose endometriosis and plan surgery. Now everything I do is shaped by this duality of “seeing” a pathology.

Surgery is one part of what we do. Not everyone with endometriosis needs it, and we manage patients across every option: hormonal and non-hormonal treatment, pain care, fertility planning, pelvic health, and surgery when it is the right choice.

Where you’ll find me:
Associate Professor, Obstetrics and Gynecology, McMaster University

Gynecologic surgeon, Hamilton Health Sciences

Medical Director, SUGO

Director, Endometriosis360

Lead, Leonardi Research Group, McMaster University

Leadership roles with , , SEUD, , and more

Bottom line: I’m a huge advocate for people with endometriosis. In clinic, in the OR, in research, and here.

09/29/2026

Part two about , the form of

09/29/2026

Do you want to know why modern day gynecologists may be hesitant to cut out an endometrioma? Listen to find out, just part of the story. Will share more soon!

09/25/2026

Connecting with these two incredibly accomplished 🇨🇦 leaders in Gynecologic health. Drs Olga Bougie & Mathew Leonardi. Just spending a couple of days discussing our favourite topic…

CanSAGE VP Olga Bougie & Dr Mathew Leonardi