July 2016 – The Endocrine Post

Endocrine Connections celebrates a birthday – and brings you plushies

Published on 29/07/201619/08/2016 by Society for EndocrinologyLeave a comment

This month, the Society for Endocrinology’s open-access journal, Endocrine Connections, is marking four years since the publication of its first issue.

To celebrate Endocrine Connections’s achievements, as well as the fourth anniversary of the first issue, you are invited to vote for your favourite article from the shortlist below. This list has been produced based on scientific quality, originality and level of interest among the wider scientific audience – as well as download numbers to date.

But what’s in it for you? As well as supporting your colleagues’ research, by voting for your favourite, you will be entered into a draw to win an endocrinology-themed plushie; a new mascot, perhaps, for you laboratory or office!

Research paper: Efficacy of increased resistant starch consumption in human type 2 diabetes C L Bodinham et al.
Research paper: Effect of lifestyle intervention on the reproductive endocrine profile in women with polycystic ovarian syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis Liza Haqq et al.
Review: The heart as an endocrine organ Tsuneo Ogawa and Adolfo J de Bold.
Review: The appraisal of chronic stress and the development of the metabolic syndrome: a systematic review of prospective cohort studies N Bergmann et al.
Review: Heroes in endocrinology: Nobel Prizes Wouter W de Herder.
Research paper: Variation in the biochemical response to L-thyroxine therapy and relationship with peripheral thyroid hormone conversion John E M Midgley et al.
Review: Mitochondrial dysfunction and insulin resistance: an updateby Magdalene K Montgomery and Nigel Turner.
Review: Update on strategies limiting iatrogenic hypoglycemia Aldo Bonaventura et al.
Research paper: Bone metastases and skeletal-related events from neuroendocrine tumours Katherine Van Loon et al.
Review: Cardiac natriuretic peptides and obesity: perspectives from an endocrinologist and a cardiologist Hugo R Ramos et al.

Vote now and look out for plushies!

Life after Brexit for UK scientists

Published on 13/07/201626/07/2016 by Society for EndocrinologyLeave a comment

This year, I was lucky enough to attend my first parliamentary links day. The largest science event in the Houses of Parliament, this day is held to promote dialogue between parliament and the scientific community. Given the vote to leave the EU less than a week earlier, it couldn’t have been a more interesting time to attend!

The scientific community directly benefit from the EU in terms of funding, collaboration and free movement of people. It was therefore no surprise that this year’s event saw the biggest attendance in history. The event, opened by John Bercow MP (Speaker of the House of Commons), involved opening remarks from Jo Johnson (Minister for Universities and Science) and Nicola Blackwood (Chair of the Science and Technology Select Committee). Two panels then followed, and then final speeches were given by Lord O’Neill of Gately, Sir Venki Ramakrishnan, and Stephen Metcalfe MP. Bewildered scientists filled the room, all anxious about their now uncertain future, and all speakers tried their best to reassure us.

‘Nothing has changed overnight in legal terms’ said Jo Johnson. MPs agreed that we have a strong country with a resilient history, and are able to pull through. Our science in particular they say is world class, and this can be used to help in our recovery. Many speakers told of reassurance from abroad, recognising the work we do and that they want to continue collaborating. These academic networks can therefore provide an alternative to the political networks, and help to smooth waters. So the message was one of hope and determination, despite the disappointment.

All emphasised that we now need to shout loud to ensure that science is prominent in the negotiations and in particular that the government maintain our overall investment in science. MPs assured us that they will do their best to fight for these things, and they said that we also need to send out the message to connections and networks across the world, that despite this decision Britain is a willing collaborator and welcoming society. Finally, they asked us to think about what we can learn. Although leaving the EU would clearly be bad for science, half of the public still responded with the leave vote. This suggests that science is not important to them, so what can we do now to convince people that science is worth investing in?

I will always remember this day at such an important time in British history. After all the hope given I look forward to seeing what the future holds for UK science!

Amber Abernethie is in the second year of her PhD in Cardiovascular Biology. She is based at the Queens Medical Research Centre (University of Edinburgh) but is originally from Cleethorpes, England.

Following the referendum result on the UK’s membership of the European Union (EU) the Society for Endocrinology urges the UK government to ensure that free movement of students, researchers and clinicians between the UK and other EU countries and full access to, and participation in, the EU research infrastructure is preserved. We strongly believe that the free movement of labour is essential to the delivery of care within the National Health Service (NHS) and to ensure that the UK continues to be a world leader in international scientific research. The full statement is available on our website.

Society for Endocrinology early career grant

Early-career grants: funding to get the all-important first proof of concept

Published on 12/07/201626/07/2016 by Society for EndocrinologyLeave a comment

The Society for Endocrinology provides early-career grants to support its members in a number of ways. In this article, Kerry McLaughlin explains how the grant helped her search for an elusive autoantigen, which made a splash on the BBC news page earlier this year.

Dr Kerry McLaughlin, JDRF Research Fellow

People who have type-1 diabetes lose the ability to control blood sugar levels because of the destruction of insulin-producing cells in their Islets of Langerhans. We know this is because the immune response targets four specific proteins (known as autoantigens), and while the fifth major autoantigen has been known to exist for over 20 years its identity was unknown.

Technical limitations at the time made it impossible to identify the fifth autoantigen, but we used a combination of biochemical techniques alongside high-tech mass spectrometry to discover that this fifth major autoantigen was tetraspanin-7, at last providing a complete picture of the immune targets in type-1 diabetes.

This discovery can now be used to help identify those at risk of future disease development through the detection of antibodies to tetraspanin-7, and to further research into strategies aimed at blocking the immune response to the major autoantigens in order to prevent the disease altogether.

This research came about as a result of work we were doing with a separate autoantigen (IA-2). My postdoctoral supervisor, Dr Michael Christie, was involved in earlier efforts to identify the fifth major autoantigen, and we realised that we could apply the technology developed for IA-2 for this purpose.

This was where the Early Career Grant from the Society for Endocrinology came in and provided some much needed resource to kick-start the project. While it took a little bit more time and effort to finally identify tetraspanin-7 as our elusive fifth autoantigen, this early funding was instrumental to the project’s successful completion.

I have since been awarded a 3-year fellowship by JDRF to continue my research into tetraspanin-7 in the laboratory of Professor Patrik Rorsman FRS, FMedSci at the University of Oxford. We published our study in Diabetes, and it was covered in the mainstream media by the BBC, at one point trending in the top 10 news articles, as well as by the Huffington Post. It was great to have the opportunity to share our research with the wider public, and I was very motivated to see how interested people were in hearing about scientific advances.

For young researchers, getting enough preliminary data to put together a competitive grant application for a major funding body can be tricky. The Early Career Grant from the Society for Endocrinology provides postdocs with the opportunity to explore a new avenue of research and can be used to provide that all-important first proof-of-concept.

The second advantage to this scheme is that it gives early-stage researchers a chance to go through the process of preparing an application for funding as well as managing an award, but on a much smaller scale and without the heavy administrative burden of larger grants. I would certainly recommend the scheme to those keen to take the first step towards an independent career in research.

Kerry McLaughlin, originally from Cape Town, South Africa, was awarded her PhD in Immunology from King’s College London in collaboration with The Pirbright Institute. She then spent six years as a postdoc in the laboratory of Dr Michael Christie at King’s College London before taking up a JDRF fellowship at the University of Oxford in 2016.

For details on how to apply for our Early Career Grant, visit our website. The next deadline for applications is 27 November 2016.

Getting the message out: anti-doping in sport

Published on 07/07/201617/02/2017 by Society for EndocrinologyLeave a comment

Next Tuesday, Liverpool John Moores University will host a public awareness day on anti-doping in sport, aimed predominantly at high school students, their teachers and practising coaches. In this post, Professor Graeme Close explains why it’s important to get an anti-doping message out to schools. The event is supported by a Society for Endocrinology public engagement grant.

Athletes who dope fall into two broad categories. Firstly, those who believe that it is not possible to be successful in their sport without using performance enhancing drugs and secondly those who accidentally take contaminated supplements or over-the-counter medication that contains prohibited substances. Without doubt, the best way to tackle both of these mistakes is by effectively educating athletes in schools before mistakes are made. In wake of recent doping scandals, this Society for Endocrinology sponsored event is not only timely but essential to promote clean sport.

We want attendees to think about why athletes do not need to dope in sport. We will cover the science of muscle mass and strength increases, which is very poorly understood. Many junior athletes believe that the only way to increase lean mass is to use sports supplements and/or take prohibited substances. In reality, this goal can be achieved through correct nutrition and optimisation of training plans. The problem is that many people do not understand how to eat and how to train to gain muscle mass and as such their training is often ineffective.

It is important to tell the truth about sports supplementation. There is currently a trend that you either have to join a “no-supplement” or “pro-supplement” team and there is no place for a balanced opinion. The reality is that there are a handful of supplements that may be beneficial if taken at the right time. If we are truthful with our education, athletes will come to qualified people for advice, such as nutritionists on the Sport and Exercise Nutrition register (SENr). In contrast, if we have a blanket no-supplement policy the danger is that athletes may take the matter into their own hands and take supplements that not only do not work but more worryingly have not been tested for contaminants.

As sport scientists, it is our moral and ethical duty to educate athletes on doping. It is crucial that respected practitioners and academics provide appropriate education with regards to anti-doping. As well as facing a potential lifetime ban from sport, there are many dangerous consequences of taking performance enhancing drugs such as cardiac damage and mental health problems. There are even fatalities following the misuse of drugs in sport.

The event we are hosting at LJMU will include highly experienced researchers and practitioners who support some of the world’s greatest athletes, as well as top level athletes themselves. In addition, the Rugby Football Union and UK Anti-Doping will be present to help us reach out to kids more effectively.

We hope that this is the first of many such educational days and that the students, teachers and coaches will leave the event feeling inspired and motivated to commit to a future of clean sport.

Public engagement grants have been developed to help Society members and public engagement professionals (non-members) organise and deliver outreach activities, aimed at school children and/or the general public, to communicate the science of endocrinology. Find out how to apply for a public engagement grant on the Grants page of our website.