European Society of Endocrinology becomes official

We are delighted to announce the European Society of Endocrinology (ESE) has officially replaced EFES. Becoming effective this month, the ESE’s core values are:

To promote for the public benefit research, education and clinical practice in endocrinology by the organisation of conferences, training courses and publications, by raising public awareness, liaison with national and international legislators, and by any other appropriate means

The new website will be launched within the next month at www.euro-endo.org. Membership is open to anybody: to get FREE membership for 2006 all you need to do is tick the box on the ECE 2006 registration form or complete the membership form on the new web site when it is launched at: http://www.euro-endo.org/ece2006/registration.html. You can still keep up to date with the latest opportunities for postgraduate courses at: http://www.euro-endo.org/courses/courses.htm

Call for ESE locations for 2010 and 2011

From 2010 the ESE will run all its meetings centrally. However, all affiliated societies will have the opportunity to submit bids to host the congress and the ESE will work closely with the successful national society. Guidelines on how to develop bid documents will be placed on the website shortly.

Deadline for expressions to host both the ESE 2010 and 2011: 31 March 2006

ECE 2006 Earlybird Registration Deadline: 10 February 2006

Don't delay, register today for the congress before the earlybird deadline on 10 February! Registration information can be found at http://www.euro-endo.org/ece2006/registration.html. Speakers and chairs have been invited from all over Europe including; Germany, France, Latvia, Italy, Poland. Letters regarding your submitted abstracts are currently being sent out via email, you should hear by the end of January. All attendees at ECE 2006 in Glasgow are invited to join the ESE for free for 2006.

ESE News

Issue 14 of ESE News is out now and available online at on the ESE website. If you are a member of any of the European national endocrine societies, you should receive a free copy of ESE News each spring and autumn. If you are not receiving this and would like to, please send your full name and address to: jo.thurston@endocrinology.org

EU launches debate on how to tackle obesity

The European Commission has adopted a Green Paper on the promotion of healthy diets and physical activity. The aim is to begin an extensive public consultation on how to reduce obesity levels and the prevalence of associated chronic diseases in the EU. http://europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/health_consumer/dyna/consumervoi....

European study shows recombinant TSH therapy promises better quality of life for thyroid cancer patients

A multicenter international study, including Johns Hopkins, has found that after surgery for thyroid cancer, giving genetically engineered human thyroid-stimulating hormone (rhTSH) before radioiodine treatment avoids the previous need to stop thyroid replacement therapy and the miserable side effects that go with it. http://www.rxpgnews.com/cancer/thyroid/article_3234.shtml

Roche, Glaxo: US OKs new use for osteoporosis drug

Swiss drug maker Roche Holding AG and Britain's GlaxoSmithKline Plc won U.S. approval for long-lasting intravenous use of their osteoporosis drug Boniva, the companies said on Friday. The two companies had been seeking permission for use of the drug in post-menopausal women with the brittle-bone disease that allows patients to receive an injection just once every three months. http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=healthNews&storyID=2006-01-06T231423Z_01_YUE601755_RTRIDST_0_HEALTH-OSTEOPOROSIS-DC.XML&archived=False

Prevalence of anterior pituitary insufficiency 3 and 12 months after traumatic brain injury

HJ Schneider, M Schneider, B Saller, S Petersenn, M Uhr, B Husemann, F von Rosen and GK Stalla

Previously, identification of hormonal disturbances following traumatic brain injury (TBI) has been overlooked in favour of diagnosis of more obvious consequences including disorders of consciousness, attention, sleep and motivation. Until recently, the prevalence of pituitary deficiencies, which could ultimately lead to hormonal crisis, and the benefits of hormone replacement following TBI have not been investigated. Recent research has identified hypopituitarism in the early post-trauma phase, but lack of follow-up has left the longer-term hormonal consequences of TBI unclear.

Schneider and Schneider and colleagues now investigate pituitary function in TBI patients in the short-term (3 months post trauma) and the long-term (12 months post trauma). Their findings reveal a high prevalence of hormonal irregularities, with over half of patients at 3 months, and over a third at 12 months showing signs of hypogonadism and hypocortisolism. Hypogonadism at 3 months was linked to initial trauma severity, confirming that reproductive function is down-regulated in response to severe illness. The authors suggest that injury severity may increase the risk of secondary hypogonadism despite the lack of an association between injury severity and hypopituitarism per se.

Schneider and Schneider and colleagues now call for assessment of pituitary function following TBI to become routine, and propose that assessment of injury severity in more detail may clarify the predictors of hypopituitarism in TBI patients.

EJE 154(2) 259–265

Royan International Research Award: Reproductive Biomedicine & Stem Cells

In 2006 the awards will be granted to five researchers who have been able to carry out the best researches on Reproductive Biomedicine or any other related subjects. In addition to international section, three domestic outstanding research will be awarded. The research topics may fall within the following scope: 1) Reproductive biomedicine; Male & Female Infertility, Embryology, Reproductive Endocrinology, Infertility Physiology and Immunology, Reproductive Biology and Reproductive Health 2) Stem Cell Biology and Technology.

Closing date: 10th April 2006
Contact: Secretariat
Phone: 00 98 21 2413790
Address: P.O.Box 19395-4644
Tehran, Iran
Email: Info@RoyanInstitute.org
http://rdfunding.org.uk/queries/ListGrantDetails.asp?GrantID=4151

NIH Grants

See all grants & finding opportunities at http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/index.cfm

Biomarkers of Autoimmunity in Type 1 Diabetes (R21)

Two areas of great need in type 1 diabetes (T1D) are 1) the prediction and early detection of autoimmune destruction of pancreatic beta cells, and 2) biomarkers for ongoing autoimmune disease which could be used to monitor responses in clinical trials. This RFA is intended to facilitate progress in this area by soliciting new applications focused on the detection of the human autoimmune response in T1D. To be considered responsive, proposed approaches must have the potential to lead to the development of a test useful in a clinical setting;

Release date: 28 December 2005
Expiration Date: April 13, 2006
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-DK-06-002.html

Specialised Cooperative Centres Program in Reproduction and Infertility Research (U54)

The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) provides funding for a limited number of research centres in the reproductive sciences. These centres provide an arena for multidisciplinary interactions among basic and clinical scientists interested in establishing high quality programs in reproduction and infertility research. The centres will also serve as national resources for the training and career development of new scientists electing to pursue research in high priority areas of reproduction and infertility research. The purpose of this RFA is to announce the annual recompetition of the Specialized Cooperative Centres Program in Reproduction Research now called the Specialized Cooperative Centres Program in Reproduction and Infertility Research. The benefit of this activity will be to the infertile couples, their health-care providers, and the public.

Release Date: January 19, 2006
Expiration Date: August 12, 2006
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-HD-06-005.html

Funding opportunities on the RDInfo website

http://www.rdinfo.org.uk

Funding opportunities on the EUROPA website

Keep a look out for new opportunities on the EUROPA website: http://europa.eu.int/comm/research/endocrine/projects_opportunities_en.html

Serono Inc (SRA) Completes Second Phase III Trial Of Its Proprietary Recombinant Human Growth Hormone For HIV-Associated Adipose Redistribution Syndrome (HARS)

GENEVA, Switzerland and ROCKLAND, Massachusetts, January 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Serono announced today the completion of its pivotal Phase III double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of Serono's recombinant human growth hormone in the treatment of HIV-associated Adipose Redistribution Syndrome (HARS), which met all pre-specified primary and major secondary endpoints. Serono plans to submit the file to the FDA in the first half of 2006 and expects that the data will be presented at upcoming scientific meetings.

http://www.biospace.com/news_story.aspx?StoryID=6426&full=1

1st ESE Postgraduate Course in Clinicial Endocrinology
Belgrade, Serbia & Montenegro, 17-18 March 2006
Contact: Prof.dr. Vera Popovic MD,PhD, Neuroendocrine Unit, Institute of Endocrinology, University Clinical Center, Dr Subotic 13, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
Tel.+381 11 684 177; Fax:+381 11 685 357
E-mail: popver@Eunet.Yu
Website: http://www.efesbelgrade2006.org/

8th European Congress of Endocrinology
Glasgow, UK, 1-5 April 2006
Contact: Society for Endocrinology, 22 Apex Court, Woodlands, Bradley Stoke, Bristol BS32 4JT, UK.
Tel: +44 (0)1454 642 210
Fax: +44 (0) 1454 642222
Email: info@endocrinology.org
Website: http://www.ece2006.com

2nd ESE Postgraduate Course in Clinical Endocrinology
Kosice, Slovakia, 12-14 October 2006
Website: http://www.ece2006.com

9th European Congress of Endocrinology
Budapest, Hungary, 28 April - 2 May 2007
Contact: Blaguss Ltd Congress Bureau, PO.Box 706, 1365 Budapest
Tel:+ 36 1 374 7030
Fax:+ 36 1 312 1582
Email: benyhe@blaguss-congress.hu or sarvary@blaguss-congress.hu

10th European Congress of Endocrinology
Dresden, Germany, 3-7 May 2008

11th European Congress of Endocrinology
Istanbul, Turkey, 25-29 April 2009