Month: September 2019

Prof Philippa Saunders is Chair of Reproductive Steroids at the University of Edinburgh and proud winner of the Society for Endocrinology Medal. Prof Saunders speaks to us about her research and career, ahead of her Medal Lecture at SfE BES 2019.

Can you tell us about your current position and research?

I lead a research team based in the Centre for Inflammation Research at the University of Edinburgh. Our work is focussed on exploring the role(s) of steroids and their receptors in the endometrium, so that we can develop better medical therapies to treat endometrial disorders including endometriosis, infertility and heavy periods, which affect millions of women in the UK and world-wide.

Please tell us a little about your career path so far, and what you are most proud of?

My first degree was in microbiology – the recent explosion of interest in the microbiome has made this more useful than previously. After graduation I was unsure what to do and took a job in Cambridge examining the role of uterine factors in supporting development of the pig blastocyst – this turned out to be an absolutely fasinating topic and I made it the basis of my PhD project. I spent 3 years as a postdoc in the USA, which was pivotal in convincing me that I wanted to become a successful principal investigator (PI), leading my own team. After a brief period working in London, I moved to Edinburgh where I was fortunate to have the chance to start my own lab within the MRC Human Reproductive Biology Unit. I was made a Professor in 2005 and have taken on a number of leadership roles including Head of Centre and Director of Postgraduate Research. I am proud of my successful application for the MRC Centre for Reproductive Health and the work my team have done to advance our understanding of the impact of oestrogens and androgens on endometrial health and disease.

What more specifically are you presenting at your Medal Lecture at SfE BES 2019?

I am going to be talking about our most recent work exploring the impact of steroids on endometrial function – this has a strong translational focus and benefits from access to human samples, as well as bespoke mouse models.

Is there anything you are particularly looking forward to at this year’s conference and you would recommend to others?

I am really looking forward to the Basic Physiology Workshop: Modelling endocrinology in vitro, in vivo & in silico and hearing about the exciting work done by the early career researchers.

What are the biggest challenges in your research area right now?

Funding! We are trying to better understand the mechanisms that predispose some, but not all, women to develop endometriosis, a chronic condition that can cause severe pain as well as subfertility. Even though up to 10% of women are affected during their reproductive years, it is incredibly challenging to get money to fund basic research into the aetiology of this condidition. Endometriosis and women’s health charities have little money and funders with deeper pockets have many equally important claims on their funds. We are looking at alternative sources of funding and have been happy to receive several small donations and philanthropic funding.  

What do you think will be the next major breakthrough in your field?

I am excited about the use of new technologies such as single cell sequencing and advanced in situ image analysis, as I believe these will give us the tools to study spatial and temporal changes in cell function within complex tissues, such as the endometrium.

What do you enjoy most about your work?

I enjoy working with my team and clinical collaborators, all of whom are focused on doing their best to improve the lives of women. One of the best aspects of the job is helping junior colleagues advance their careers by encouraging them to be ambitious and open to new ideas. I have also been fortunate to use my position as a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences to support a number of initiatives that are supporting junior PIs to achieve their full potential – these include chairing the Springboard grants panel, acting as a mentor and as co-chair of the Team Science project.

Who do you most admire professionally, or otherwise, and why?

I have huge admiration for my clinical academic colleagues (Andrew Horne, Hilary Critchley) who are dealing with the challenges of running multicentre clinical trials. These trials are vital if we are to improve the lives of women who are at risk of hormone-dependent disorders but involve many hours of work, both to obtain funding and also to manage a diverse team based in multiple locations.

Any words of wisdom for aspiring endocrinologists out there?

Endocrinology is a really important topic so please continue to work in the field and promote it to others. In your own work please consider the impact of hormones on health and disease, across the life course and in different genders, so that your results will be relevant to as many people as possible.

You can hear Prof Saunders’ Society for Endocrinology Medal Lecture, “Sex steroids and the endometrium: dynamics and disorders” on Wednesday 13 November at 16:50. Find out more about the scientific programme for SfE BES 2019.

Prof Felix Beuschlein is head of the Department of Endocrinology, Diabetology and Clinical Nutrition at the University of Zurich and winner of the Society for Endocrinology European Medal. He has carried out ground-breaking work in adrenal research for many years, now with a focus on endocrine tumours and hormonally-induced hypertension. In our interview, Prof Beuschlein tells us more about his research, career and his prize lecture at SfE BES 2019.

Could you tell us about your current position and your research?

I’m the head of the Department of Endocrinology, Diabetology and Clinical Nutrition at the University of Zurich clinic in Switzerland. I have been in the field of adrenal research since the start of my career, and my research has two broad directions. The first is on endocrine hypertension and everything to do with endocrine cardiovascular research, and the other is on endocrine tumours. 

Can you tell us a little more about your career path and what you are most proud of?

I specialised in adrenal research for my doctoral thesis, then moved several times within Germany and to the U.S. during my medical career, before moving to Switzerland. As you can imagine, moving so often was not always appreciated by my family and it can make friendships more difficult. However, you also get to engage with many different people from your field, sharing new ideas and opportunities all the time. So I view these moves as an enrichment of my career, rather than a challenge.

I am most proud of the very good and broad network of people, from all the different places I have worked and beyond. I have many colleagues in Europe and all over the globe, who I can rely on and trust, which has led to many interesting collaborations. I am also proud to be a co-founder of the European Network for the Study of Adrenal Tumours.

What will you be presenting at your SfE BES 2019 Medal Lecture?

My lecture will tell the story of how tiny little deviations that start off in the genome of a single cell can lead to a myriad of changes in the human body. There are very specific genetic changes that we, and others have identified, that predispose for adrenal tumours by causing small modifications in biological pathways. For example, hypercortisolism or excessive secretion of aldosterone, causes many changes in target organs, which then affect metabolism and lead to metabolic changes that define the phenotype witnessed by medical doctors.

Is there anything that you are particularly looking forward to at the conference?

Usually when I go to meetings like this I don’t prepare too much and like to just see what’s happening – maybe by chance I will find a brilliant talk, which I might have otherwise missed. In general, I like intersecting fields that are not immediately apparent to be endocrine-related but encourage us to think outside the box, opening our field to new ideas and new thinking.

What do you think have been the biggest challenges so far in your research area?

Right now one of the biggest problems is the maintenance of good registries and biobanks for clinical research. It is a major challenge to find funding to build and maintain them, to keep them going for a long period of time, so that you can build a cohort of patients with very rare diseases, and then follow up on them. Another challenge is keeping up awareness of particular topics, be it from the patient perspective, or that research is necessary. Then of course there is the challenge of Brexit and nations drifting apart and not knowing how that will turn out.

What do you think will be the next major breakthrough in your field?

I would say pattern recognition and artificial intelligence. As an endocrinologist this would mean not measuring one hormone, but rather looking for patterns of different hormones. ‘Omics technologies make it possible not only to measure one particular analyte, but a whole bunch. This means we can generate large datasets, over longer periods of time. Not a human being, nor an endocrinologist, nor a doctor are able to digest this information by themselves but computerised analysis of this data can indicate if disease is present or not. I think these possibilities will not only change science but also how we diagnose patients. Although this may be seen as frightening from some doctors’ perspectives, I think it will happen in the near future. We are already able to generate so much more data, but making sense out of it is the real challenge.

What do you enjoy most about your work?

My work in general is very varied, from seeing patients every day, to doing administrative things, to doing research. I also enjoy engaging with my network of scientists, talking and discussing with bright minds all over the globe. This is particularly rewarding, very interesting and is probably among the best things about research. Regardless of nationality, religious beliefs or any other differences, you come together and find common ground for discussion.

Who do you admire most professionally and why?

I have had a number of colleagues over the years who I see as role models but there are two that stand out most Martin Reincke has been a colleague and friend for over many decades and has followed my career very closely. The other important person is Bruno Allolio who was my mentor and teacher early in my career. He unfortunately passed away far too early but I remember him in many aspects of my scientific and medical career.

Do you have any words of wisdom for aspiring endocrinologists?

When I think back to what I have enjoyed the most and what I am most proud of in my career, I think it’s important for young endocrinologists to get connected with colleagues and other researchers. These networks are the fertile ground for all your future projects and career path. Endocrinology is a close community, so it is likely you will meet the same people again, which is also a great starting point for new friendships. It is also important professionally to have these networks to help you start multi-disciplinary or multi-centric projects.

You can hear Prof Beuschlein’s plenary Medal Lecture, “Mechanisms and consequences of endocrine autonomy – lessons learned from the adrenal cortex” on Tuesday 12 November at 18:20. Find out more about the scientific programme for SfE BES 2019.

A story published on Monday 9 September in the Guardian has provoked outrage at the Society for Endocrinology.

Dr Richard Quinton, Dr Channa Jayasena and Dr Ahmed Al-Sharefi, three of our expert Media Ambassadors, contacted the Society Press Office to express their concerns over the lack of accuracy and impartiality in the article: ‘My energy is back: how testosterone replacement therapy is changing men’s lives’ by Amelia Hill.

They feel that this article is written and presented in an irresponsible manner that is misleading to the reader and potentially exploitative. The Society is committed to helping promote accurate and responsible reporting of endocrinology-related topics in the media, so we have backed their concerns, in the form of the open letter below, as our official position, and call on the Guardian to retract the article, pending appropriate revisions.

“Dear Guardian,

This article published in the Guardian addresses the important issue of treating hypogonadism. However, we are concerned that the article will (inadvertently) serve as an advertisement for “fringe” private medical healthcare services that contradict the advice and experience of qualified NHS specialists, who have specifically trained in hormone medicine (endocrinology),  with no platform offered to provide a more informed viewpoint.

It is easy to do a blood test for testosterone but it is equally easy for a non-specialist doctor (such as those quoted in the article) to misinterpret the result, and thereby misdiagnose hypogonadism.  In healthy, normal men, testosterone levels peak in the early morning and fall during the day; they also fall after meals, so it’s vital for accurate diagnosis that the blood test (preferably 2 of them on different days) be performed fasted and before 10-11 am. Moreover, testosterone levels also fall naturally below “normal” after a sleepless night, or during any form of illness, and men who are overweight or obese typically have low levels of the testosterone-binding protein, such that their levels of biologically-active free testosterone may be normal, even when total testosterone is slightly low.

What doctors lacking training in hormone medicine may also fail to appreciate is that properly documenting two separate low testosterone levels (total and calculated-free) is not a final diagnosis in itself, but rather an entry point to making a proper diagnosis, which may even involve MRI scanning the pituitary gland. Thus, just starting a man with “low testosterone” on testosterone replacement, not only exposes them to the risks of unnecessary treatment – testosterone-induced infertility, shrinkage of testes, or an abnormal rise in haemoglobin that can predispose to heart attacks, along with the costs to them or the NHS of drugs and monitoring blood tests – but also to the risk of a serious underlying condition being missed, such as a pituitary gland tumour, which could expand and cause blindness.

There has been an explosion in testosterone prescribing in the UK over the past 20 years, much of which has been exploitative of the vulnerabilities and insecurities of middle-aged and older men, but which has sadly passed other men completely by, whose genuine hypogonadism has not yet come to specialist medical attention.

We therefore highlight, four simple red flag features that should make any doctor take the finding of a low testosterone level (fasted & early morning) that much more seriously and refer to an appropriately qualified specialist:

– the presence of anaemia or low haemoglobin
– a history of osteoporosis or fracture
– a history of infertility
– raised levels of pituitary hormones LH or prolactin”

Dr Richard Quinton MA MD FRCP(Edin), Consultant Endocrinologist, Newcastle-upon-Tyne Hospitals & University 

Dr Channa N. Jayasena PhD FRCP FRCPath, Clinical Senior Lecturer in Endocrinology, Imperial College London

Dr Ahmed Al-Sharefi MBChB , MRCP (UK), Senior higher specialty trainee in endocrinology, The Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation trust

Declaration: Both Richard Quinton and Channa Jayasena are Investigators on the National Institute of Healthcare Research (NIHR) funded Testosterone Efficacy and Safety (TestES) Consortium, and Media Ambassadors for the Society for Endocrinology*

Our Media Ambassadors have successfully worked with Health and Science correspondents at the Guardian in the past to ensure accurate and responsible reporting, and we look forward to continuing to work with them on endocrine-related stories in the future.

The Society is committed to engaging journalists, patients and the public with hormone science to encourage informed health decisions, and to demonstrate the value of endocrinology to the wider world. Our Media Ambassadors are experts that work alongside the press office to help provide expertise, context and analysis to promote accurate and responsible reporting.

If you are interested in helping to improve the quality of science and health reporting, read our Media Ambassador guide or email media@endocrinology.org to find out how you can get involved.