 European Federation of Endocrine Societies |
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| September 2004 News Alert | http://www.euro-endo.org |
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| http://www.euro-endo.org/news/news.htm | ||||||||||||||
| Deadline
approaching for feedback on European Society proposal EFES member societies need to feed back their responses to the document on setting up a European Society by 1 October 2004. The consultation document and response forms can be found at: http://www.euro-endo.org/news/news.htm There will be an extraordinary General Council meeting in Brussels on 13 November, which all member societies are encouraged to attend. At this meeting, definitive opinions will be sought as to the best way forward. Presidents or Secretaries should contact Helen Gregson
(Email: lisa.tandey@endocrinology.org; Tel: +44 (0)1454 642247)
to advise who their delegate will be if they have not already done
so. |
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Announcing
ECE2006, Glasgow, UK The European Congress of Endocrinology is to be held in Scotland in April 2006. The meeting will take place at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre in Glasgow. Co Chairing the Programme Organising Committee are Dr P Bouloux (London) and Dr J Köhrle (Berlin). Suggestions for the programme should be submitted by the 1st October. Please complete the form at the following link: http://www.euro-endo.org/conferences/docs/ECE2006/ECE2006-Topic%20suggestion%20form.pdf and fax the completed form to +44(0)1454 642222 Further information will be available on line at http://www.ece2006.com soon. For information on the City of Glasgow go to: http://www.seeglasgow.com/ |
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Still
some places left on Spain postgraduate course! The programme will include cutting edge lectures and practical interactive workshops in small groups on diabetes, indications of parathyroidectomy, thyroid cancer, investigation of thyroid function, arteriosclerosis, hyperandrogenism, androgen resistence, acromegaly, aging, indications of radiotherapy and quality of life. The venue on the sea front will allow a relaxed atmosphere between the scientific sessions. Find registration
information at: http://www.euro-endo.org/courses/courses.htm |
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New
Issue of EFES News - OUT NOW! If you are a
member of any of the European national endocrine societies, you
should receive a free copy of EFES News (http://www.euro-endo.org/news/news.htm)
each spring and autumn. If you are not receiving this and would
like to, please send your full name and address to: jane.shepley@endocrinology.org |
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EFES
Website The EFES Executive Committee sincerely appreciate your time and look forward to hearing from you. |
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| European
Rare Disease Therapeutic Initiative (ERDITI) – call for proposals Collectively, there are over 6000 rare diseases affecting about 25 million people in Europe. Most do not benefit from efficient treatment. In order to address this problem, through promoting research and developing drugs for the treatment of rare diseases, several European academic institutions and pharmaceutical companies have joined forces in an innovative partnership to facilitate the evaluation of drugs that have been or are being developed by pharmaceutical companies. All non-profit research institutions from European countries and pharmaceutical companies are invited to join ERDITI. ERDITI has issued a call for proposals intended for European academic scientists working on a rare disease, or a defined group of rare diseases, and who would like access to compounds that have been or are being developed by pharmaceutical companies. Proposals should address the specific evaluation of chosen compounds in vitro or in animal models, based on pharmacological and/or physiopathological hypothesis. To find out more information, go to: http://www.erditi.org |
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| International
call for disclosure of all clinical trial data The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) this month published an article in The Lancet, stating that they wish to encourage disclosure of all clinical trial data by requiring registration in a public trials registry (eg http://www.clinicaltrials.gov) as a condition of consideration for publication in any of the member journals. The policy will apply to any clinical trial starting enrolment after July 1 2005. Three leading companies, GSK, Eli Lilly and Merck have recently announced that they are going to be more open with their clinical trial data, and an industry trade association, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, has said it is creating a website on which its members could voluntarily post the results of trials of their medications. The Lancet article notes, ‘Rather than a single trial, it is usually a body of evidence, consisting of many studies, that changes medical practice. When research sponsors or investigators conceal the presence of selected trials, these studies cannot influence the thinking of patients, clinicians, other researchers, and experts who write practice guidelines or decide on insurance-coverage policy. If all trials are registered in a public repository at their inception, every trial’s existence is part of the public record and the many stakeholders in clinical research can explore the full range of clinical evidence.’ Member journals of the ICMJE include The Lancet, New England Journal of Medicine and JAMA (http://www.icmje.org/) The full article can be found at: http://www.thelancet.com
(subscription required) |
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| European
scientific organisations join up to promote formation of ERC On 6 August Science published a letter commissioned by the Initiative for Science in Europe (ISE) and co-signed by the heads of 52 European scientific organisations calling for urgent action on the establishment of a European Research Council (ERC). The appeal warns of the danger of complacency and calls for acceleration of the work being done to establish an ERC. The petition also stresses the importance of involvement of the European scientific community in the organisation of an ERC and the need to adhere to strict criteria of scientific excellence. More details can be found at: http://www.initiative-science-europe.org
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| Five-year
assessment of EU research The Commission has launched of an Independent Assessment Report of recent research programmes. Spanning the period 1999-2003, the review will cover the end of FP5 and the beginning of FP6. The assessment will consider the implementation and evolution of programmes in order to inform future research policy, including helping to shape FP7. By analysing the achievements of past and current EU activities, the group of 13 leading scientists and engineers from 13 countries will aim to provide evidence-based support to improve the relevance and quality of Community research activities. The report should be available by November 2004. |
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EC
launches communication on European research policy and FP7
An online questionnaire will be available via the link to the Communication: http://europa.eu.int/comm/research/future/index_en.html |
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| http://www.eje.org/ | ||||||||||||||
| LATEST EJE IMPACT FACTOR 2.941 Epidemiology, clinical characteristics, outcome, morbidity and mortality in acromegaly based on the Spanish Acromegaly Registry (Registro Espanol de Acromegalia, REA) Mestron A, Webb S, Astrorga R, Benito P, Catala M, Gaztambide S, Gomez J-M, Halperin I, Lucas-Morante T, Moreno B, Obiols G, de Pablos P, Paramo C, Pico A, Torres C, Varela C, Vazquez J-A, Zamora J, Albareda M & Gilabert M European
Journal of Endocrinology 151(4) Stewart pp 431-432; Mestron
et al. pp 439-446 Acromegaly is a rare disease affecting around 69 individuals per million, so epidemiological data on the disease on a nationwide scale is sparce. The Spanish Acromegaly Registry (Registro Espanol de Acromegalia-Rea, REA) was established in 1997 to analyse the incidence, prevalence, morbidity, mortality and treatment of the disease within Spain. Mestron and co-workers have studied the data from the registry and report some intriguing findings. While the study confirmed that the mean age at diagnosis was the same as previously reported in other countries, there was a female predominance reported in few other studies. Regional prevalence varied, which is thought to be a reflection on reporting levels. The report considers the effect of the disease on hypertension, and its treatment with somatostatin analogues. While hypertension was more prevalent in acromegalics with high IGF-I concentrations, interestingly, the level of treatment with somatostatin analogues did not affect the prevalence of hypertension. The registry’s results also suggest that GH and IGF-I values outside the normal range, and treatment with radiotherapy, increased the risk of mortality. This indicates that early treatment would be beneficial to patients. However, Mestron and co-workers mention that the changing pattern of death for the general population makes evaluation of mortality in acromegalics more difficult. While REA experiences the same limitation as many national registries in that the reporting of acromegaly cases by endocrinologists is voluntary and therefore likely to be incomplete, studies of this nature are able to provide relevant data on the epidemiology of this rare disease, that is otherwise unavailable from single treatment centers. Paul Stewart comments on Mestron and co-workers’ findings in his article ‘Acromegaly databases - time for European unification’, reviewing it as a “commendable attempt to collect data on as many acromegaly patients as possible living in Spain”. He refers to the fact that over half the dataset were treated with a somatostatin analogue at some point and the possible direction of the registry in terms of greater collaboration between endocrinologists and biochemists. Stewart also highlights the potential pitfalls of a retrospective analysis in that the study is biased towards survivors of acromegaly. The commentary concludes that, with the UK, France and Germany already running National Acromegaly registers similar to REA, an EU-funded network would broaden the outcome data for the disease. |
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| EURYI
(European Young Investigator) Awards. Second call for proposals The European Union Research Organisations Heads of Research Councils (EUROHORCs) developed the European Young Investigator (EURYI) Awards in collaboration with the European Science Foundation. The aim of EURYI Awards will be to enable and encourage outstanding young researchers from all over the world, to work in a European environment and lead their own research team. The main selection criteria to be used by EURYI Awards will be scientific quality, originality and potential. The EURYI Awards shall foster innovative research, novel scientific problems and/or novel methodologies. Applicants should have an excellent track record with the potential to become world class leaders in their respective field of research. Awards will last for up to 5 years and the total value will be between 750,000 and 1,250,000 Euros. In July 2004 25 awards were granted after the first call. The second call has a deadline of 30 November 2004. For more information go to: http://www.esf.org/esf_genericpage.php?section=8&domain=0&genericpage=1879 |
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| Geoffrey Harris
Prize We have pleasure in announcing the 2005 Geoffrey Harris Prize generously sponsored by Ipsen. This prestigious prize is designed for established researchers in the field of neuroendocrinology and is the first of its kind in Europe. Please contact the EFES Secretary: Prof. Dr. J. Köhrle Institut für Experimentelle Endokrinologie und Endokrinologisches Forschungs-Centrum Charité - Hochschulmedizin Berlin, Campus Mitte Schumannstr. 20/21 D-10098 Berlin Germany Tel: +49 30 450524021 Fax: +49 30 450525922 Email: josef.koehrle@charite.de or elke.abdel-karim@charite.de The deadline for entries is 31 December 2004 and the award will be presented at the 7th European Congress of Endocrinology which takes place from 3-7 September 2005 in Göteborg, Sweden. More information is available on: http://www.euro-endo.org/about/harrisprize.htm |
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European
Journal of Endocrinology Prize Nominations
should be submitted to:- The deadline for entries is 31 December 2004. More information on the prize and nomination process is available on http://www.eje.org/eje/ejeprize.htm. |
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| ASCO
Foundation International Travel Grants (ITG) American Society of Clinical Oncology will be awarding 20 travel grants to oncologists from countries of limited resources that meet the eligibility requirements. The monetary award is designed to cover expenses (coach airfare, hotel, and meals) in order to attend the ASCO Annual Meeting in Orlando, Florida, May 2005. Grant recipients will also receive complimentary meeting registration, some tickets to sessions, and invitations to special ITG events (such as, a tour of a comprehensive cancer center, opening reception, etc.) The deadline for applications is 14 January 2005. To review criteria and apply for the 2005 ITG Program
visit http://www.asco.org/itg
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| Serono
Foundation 2005 Fellowship in Reproductive Endocrinology Since 1997, the Serono Foundation has granted two to three fellowships every year to promising young scientists. The fellowships' laureates receive USD 45,000 every year for two years to fund research for a full-time postdoctoral training programme. In 2005 fellowships will be awarded by the Serono Foundation for postdoctoral training pertaining to the research area of reproductive endocrinology. The 2005 Fellowship will be awarded on or before 15 July 2005. Deadline for applications is 28 February 2005. For
more information go to: http://www.serono-foundation.org/fellowships.htm
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| Current
NIH grants NEW! Exploratory grant program in diabetes endocrinology and metabolism The intent of this initiative is to encourage exploratory research projects by providing support at the conceptual stages of projects applying novel technologies, developing new tools, biomarkers and model systems, and testing innovative concepts of potential diagnostic and therapeutic relevance to diseases including diabetes and its complications, obesity, endocrine disorders including osteoporosis, cystic fibrosis and inborn errors of metabolism. http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-04-137.html Ubiquitin and Ubiquitin-like modifications regulating
disease processes Emerging technologies for the study of reproductive
neuroendocrinology Proteomics in diabetes and other endocrine and metabolic
diseases |
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| Jobs
and Grants Forum on the EFES website Attention jobseekers! Post your details on the site. Attention employers! Advertise jobs or search for suitable candidates online. Attention funders! Add your grant to the EFES forum. Go to: http://www.euro-endo.org/jobsgrants/jobs.htm |
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| European
Union CHMP supports the removal of pre-treatment weight loss requirement
for orlistat (Xenical™) The EU Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has issued a positive opinion supporting the removal of the pre-treatment weight loss requirement for orlistat (Xenical™). This recommendation was based on data from the Xendos trial, which demonstrated that 60% of those on Xenical lost at least 5% of their baseline body weight after a 12-week period compared to 35% of the group given lifestyle changes alone. |
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| Eli
Lilly to publish all clinical trial data online Eli Lilly have followed GSK in announcing that they will disclose the results of all clinical trials for which Lilly is a sponsor via a publicly available registry, beginning in the fourth quarter of this year. The registry will include results of all Phase I through Phase IV clinical trials of Lilly's marketed products conducted anywhere in the world. Additionally, the company will begin posting the initiation of all Phase III and Phase IV clinical trials via the registry at: http://www.lillytrials.com/ |
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| US court
battle over Norditropin® patent Novo Nordisk are appealing against a decision of the US Federal District Court that the patent covering their recombinant growth hormone preparation is invalid and unenforceable. This follows a successful appeal by Teva Pharmaceuticals (and its licensor Savient Pharmaceuticals) to overturn a previous decision that they had infringed the patent. |
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| Letrozole
in Switzerland Switzerland has become the first European country to license the Novartis drug, letrozole, to treat post-menopausal breast cancer in women who have already received five years’ therapy with tamoxifen. |
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