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The Endocrine Society |
| Citation for the 2006 Fred Conrad Koch Award of The Endocrine Society to Dr. Gerald M. Reaven |
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Dr. Reaven received his undergraduate and medical education at the University of Chicago and, after residency at the University of Michigan, went to Stanford as a research fellow. He subsequently joined the faculty where he rose to Professor of Medicine and Head of the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases, as well as Director of the General Clinical Research Center, Head of Gerontology and Director of Geriatric Research.
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In an elegant series of animal and human studies, Reaven defined the effect of differences in the amount and kind of dietary carbohydrate on plasma glucose and insulin responses, the fructose-induced model of insulin resistance, and the relationship between insulin resistance and plasma triglyceride and VLDL turnover in man. He demonstrated the close relationship between insulin secretion and insulin action in nonobese and obese individuals with and without type 2 diabetes mellitus and characterized the effect of plasma glucose on glucose utilization and metabolic clearance rate, as well as the effects of antidiabetic drugs on various aspects of glucose, insulin, and lipid metabolism in patients with diabetes mellitus.
Certainly, Dr. Reavens most important contribution has been the insight he has provided to defining and understanding syndrome X, the syndrome that links insulin resistance, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and varying degrees of normal to abnormal glucose tolerance with risk for coronary artery disease. This syndrome is known to affect between 45 and 60 million Americans, including over one third of people over age 60 and now almost 15% of children and teens. It thus constitutes the most wide-reaching endocrine/metabolic public health problem.
As a result of this work, Dr. Reaven has been recognized by the Banting Award for Distinguished Scientific Achievement of the American Diabetes Association, the Banting Memorial Lectureship of the British Diabetes Association, the Joslin Memorial Lecture of the Massachusetts American Diabetes Association, Nordisk-McGill Lecturer at the University of Montreal, the Claude Bernard Lectureship of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes, the Novartis Award for Long-Standing Achievement in Diabetes, the Linus Pauling Functional Medicine Award and the Frontiers in Science Award, and the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists. He has served on the Editorial Boards of Endocrinology, Diabetologia, American Journal of Physiology: Endocrinology & Metabolism, Hormone and Metabolic Research, Diabetic Medicine, Journal of Internal Medicine, Diabetes/Metabolism Reviews, and The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism and as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Gerontology. He also served as a member and then chairman of the National Diabetes Advisory Board of the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Reaven has also received the Renold Medal of the American Diabetes Association in recognition of his distinguished service in the training of students, fellows, and other research scientists.
In summary, Dr. Reaven is truly an outstanding physician-scientist who has made exceptional contributions to endocrinology and metabolism, to our understanding of human disease, and to training of future scientists. He is most worthy of recognition of the Fred Conrad Koch Award of The Endocrine Society.
C. Ronald Kahn
| Citation for the 2006 Ernst Oppenheimer Award of The Endocrine Society to Dr. Charis Eng |
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As an independent investigator, Dr. Eng, together with Dr. Lois Mulligan, led a multinational group that obtained definitive data on the specific risks of developing the neoplastic conditions that comprise MEN 2: medullary thyroid cancer, pheochromocytoma, and parathyroid hyperplasia. Her delineation of specific genotype-phenotype associations has led to use of genetic testing for molecular diagnosis, clinical prediction, and surveillance recommendations. Her work continues to define the optimal approach to management of individuals in affected kindreds and serves as a model for the practice of clinical cancer genetics.
Extending her key description of RET genotype-phenotype correlation in MEN 2, Dr. Eng and her collaborator of 12 years, Dr. Hartmut Neumann, demonstrated that a remarkable 25% of apparently sporadic pheochromocytomas carry germline mutations in one of four genes. In a series of papers published in The New England Journal of Medicine and JAMA, the multinational team led by Eng and Neumann showed that specific clinical features are associated with mutations in specific genes, thus enabling the clinician to prioritize which gene to begin testing.
Dr. Eng was the first to identify germline mutations in PTEN as the cause of Cowden syndrome, an under-diagnosed inherited follicular thyroid neoplasia syndrome, and related disorders. Her meticulous phenotyping has led to the discovery that subsets of several other disparate syndromes are also due to germline PTEN mutations. She proposed that, instead of clinical syndrome name, the subsets of these disorders associated with PTEN mutations should be classified by gene, i.e. the PTEN Hamartoma Tumor Syndrome. This work has resulted in a key role for molecular-based diagnosis and surveillance recommendations in the management of these clinically puzzling disorders and has been codified in national practice guidelines. Remarkably, she has extended her PTEN work to basic signal transduction and cell biology. Dr. Eng was the first to show that this cytoplasmic phosphatase actually traverses into the nucleus. She showed that, via two overlapping nuclear localization signal-like sequences, PTEN interacts with major vault protein to enter the nucleus, peaking during the G0G1 phase of the cell cycle. She went on to show that nuclear-PTEN was associated with G1 cell cycle arrest, whereas cytoplasmic PTEN was associated with apoptosis. These observations have defined a nontraditional means of PTEN inactivation that will serve as a novel target of prevention and treatment for many sporadic cancers.
Dr. Eng has received multiple previous honors, including election to membership in the American Society for Clinical Investigation in 2001, when she was one of three new inductees, from among 61, to be selected to present a plenary session at her inaugural meeting. Dr. Eng is the recipient of a Doris Duke Distinguished Clinical Scientist Award (2002). She has been elected a Fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science (2003) and the Association of American Physicians (AAP, 2004). Dr. Eng was recently the 2005 recipient of the American Thyroid Associations prestigious Van Meter Award.
Dr. Eng currently serves as the founding director of the Genomic Medicine Institute at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation and Professor and Vice Chair of the Department of Genetics at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. She is senior editor of Cancer Research, an associate editor of The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, and serves on the Board of Directors of the American Society of Human Genetics.
Dr. Engs knowledge, wisdom, and insights are a rare treasure. Her spirited collegiality, unconditional generosity, honest and equitable nature, and her sense of humor endear her to colleagues, collaborators, employees, and trainees alike. Her success and her seeding of other investigators successful programs in many venues epitomize the ideals of Ernst Oppenheimer and thus make Dr. Eng a very worthy recipient of the 2006 Oppenheimer Award.
Paul W. Ladenson
| Citation for the 2006 Robert H. Williams Distinguished Leadership Award of The Endocrine Society to Dr. Richard J. Santen |
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Dr. Santens research teams benefited from his leadership in the initiation of clinical trials of first-generation aromatase inhibitors in comparison with surgical adrenalectomy and the antiestrogen, tamoxifen. Concepts integral to understanding of the GnRH super-agonist analogs for the treatment of breast and prostate cancer were the underlying mechanisms whereby sex steroids exert negative feedback regulation of LH and FSH. Santen and his colleagues designed and utilized the first practical computer approach to examine the effects of estrogens and androgens on pulsatile LH release. His work on breast and prostate cancer, pulsatile LH release, and androgen and estrogen physiology has led to over 250 peer-reviewed publications and 100 review articles, books, and chapters in the leading textbooks of endocrinology.
Dr. Santen benefited enormously from the guidance and encouragement of key mentors early in his career. These included Dr. C. Alvin Paulsen, director of the reproductive endocrinology training program at the University of Washington; Professor Paul Franchimont at the University of Liege; and Dr. Penti Siiteri, who suggested the concept of aromatase inhibition for breast cancer. Dr. C. Wayne Bardin provided the opportunity to participate in a unique and pioneering venture, the initiation of the brand-new Penn State medical school. With few faculty at its inception, this institution rewarded a broad approach to teaching, investigation, patient care, and, most importantly, collaborationa milieu in which Santen thrived. He was recognized as one of only two clinical faculty to become one of the 23 active university-wide Evan Pugh Faculty Professors.
Dr. Santens leadership role manifested itself through service as Division Chief, Department Chair, Cancer Center Associate Director, Chair of The Endocrine Society Finance Committee, and member of the Executive Councils of The Endocrine Society, American Society of Andrology, and International Endocrine Society. Specific contributions to The Endocrine Society included the lead role he took in developing the long-range financial plan that has enabled the Society to invest in new initiatives over the past 7 years. He initiated and nurtured the International Scholars Program of The Endocrine Society, which has identified 25 exceptional trainees from outside the United States, and arranged for outstanding training experiences in laboratories of Endocrine Society members worldwide. He has trained 32 clinical and postdoctoral fellows and inculcates the role of excellence in the care of patients.
Service to the scientific community provides a mark of leadership that characterizes Dr. Santens career. His special interest in cancer led to his contributions as a member of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Cancer Program Project study section, the VA Merit Review study section, the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Integration Panel, the NIH prostate cancer working group, the advisory boards for the University of Wisconsin Cancer Center, the Mayo Clinic Breast Cancer Spore, the Lombardy Cancer Center at Georgetown University, the Eppley Cancer Institute of the University of Nebraska, the De Costa Breast Cancer Prevention Foundation, and the NIH Cancer Cube Focus group. He was a founding member of the series of seven International Aromatase meetings that served as a catalyst for collaboration among aromatase inhibitor investigators. His reproductive interests involved him in an evaluation group for the World Health Organization Male Reproduction task force and in serving on the American Board of Internal Medicine Endocrinology committee.
Trained at the University of Washington during Dr. Robert Williams tenure, Dr. Santen provides an example of a leader who fits the eclectic mold that Dr. Williams instilled as one of his first principles. He is truly deserving of the Robert H. Williams Distinguished Leadership Award.
Robert Carey
| Citation for the 2006 Edwin B. Astwood Award Lecture of The Endocrine Society to Dr. Mitchell A. Lazar |
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, because it was encoded on the opposite strand of the gene for c-erbA
, another name for the
form of thyroid hormone receptor. Working together with Rich Hodin, Lazar unraveled this complex genomic relationship before the days of PCR and automated sequencing.
Among the thyroid receptors Mitch uncovered was splicing variant TR
2, which does not bind thyroid hormone. In 2006, this seems almost obvious as TR
2 lacks the TH-binding domain. In 1986, however, ligand binding mechanisms were not well understood, and the failure of this putative TR to bind TH was a conundrum that Mitch was determined to understand before publishing the cloning of TR
2. Meanwhile, two high-profile papers independently described TR
2 as a TH-binding receptor! Mitch persevered and, together with Ron Koenig, Reed Larsen, and David Moore, convincingly showed that the "negative result" was the true one, and actually quite interesting because TR
2 functions as a dominant inhibitor of TH action. This illustrates the scientific creativity, quality, and integrity that have characterized his work from an early stage.
Mitch left my lab in 1989 to become Assistant Professor in the Endocrinology Division at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Over the past 17 years he has risen up the academic ranks to his current position as Sylvan Eisman Professor of Medicine, Chief of the Division of Endocrinology, and Director of the Institute for Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolism at Penn. During this remarkably productive period, he has continued his investigation of thyroid hormone receptors and Rev-erb
, making important contributions to the role of homo- and heterodimerization in DNA binding and silencing of gene transcription by interaction with corepressors. Mitch s most important accomplishments in this area include the discovery of the "CoRNR" motif that mediates interactions between receptors and corepressors, the first purification of an endogenous nuclear receptor corepressor complex, the discovery of a novel function of corepressors as activating cofactors for histone deacetylase 3 (HDAC3), and the demonstration that HDAC3 plays a singularly important role in nuclear receptor-mediated repression. This work has had a major impact on our understanding of hormone action.
Mitchs most significant contributions concern the growing epidemic of obesity-associated diabetes. A pioneer in the linkage of the nuclear receptor PPAR
to adipocyte differentiation, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes, he proposed early on that thiazolidinedione drugs improve insulin sensitivity as a consequence of altering PPAR
activity in adipocytes. This view is now widely accepted, due in large part to his scientific contributions. Mitch has discovered unexpected PPAR
target genes and identified novel mechanisms of gene regulation by PPAR
in adipocytes. Most excitingly, he discovered a new hormone called resistin, which impairs insulin action and provides a link between obesity and insulin resistance. In an elegant series of experiments, he has demonstrated the physiological and pathophysiological importance of resistin in glucose metabolism and insulin resistance.
A superb physician-scientist, Mitch Lazar is a great colleague and an outstanding role model and mentor to students and fellows, several of whom are now running their own laboratories. Much of his motivation, as well as his success, can be attributed to his wonderful wife, Althier, and his two terrific sons, Zachary and Aaron. From gene regulation to physiology, Mitchs unique contributions to endocrinology make him highly deserving of The Endocrine Societys 2006 Edward B. Astwood Award and Lecture.
William Chin
| Citation for the 2006 Clinical Investigator Award Lecture of The Endocrine Society to Dr. Walter L. Miller |
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In 1974 he came to the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), first as a senior resident in Pediatrics, then as a Fellow in Brian McCarthys lab in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics where he studied nucleic acid reassociation kinetics, and finally as a fellow in pediatric endocrinology. He joined the faculty as an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and began a highly productive collaboration with John Baxter, including the cloning of bovine growth hormone and prolactin cDNAs in 1980.
Walt then embarked on his extraordinarily productive, "state-of-the-art" studies of the clinical disorders, genetics, cell biology, and biochemistry of steroidogenesis. His laboratory cloned many human steroidogenic enzymes and delineated the molecular basis of several endocrine disorders. They showed that cellular steroidogenic capacity is determined by quantities of enzyme mRNAs and correlated fetal adrenal growth with IGF-2. His group was first to propose that gene conversion was the principal genetic mechanism underlying 21-hydroxylase deficiency, discovered the extracellular matrix protein Tenascin-X as a novel gene overlapping the gene for steroid 21-hydroxylase (CYP21), delineated the genetic anatomy of the C4/CYP21/ TNX locus, and identified Tenascin-X deficiency as the cause of recessive Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.
Millers group identified the first mutations causing isolated 17,20 lyase deficiency and showed that these mutations disrupted electron transfer to P450c17. They demonstrated that the 17,20 lyase activity of P450c17, required for sex steroid biosynthesis, is regulated posttranslationally by P450c17 phosphorylation and by the allosteric action of cytochrome b5, which both regulate electron transfer. This work provided the first explanation of how adrenal glucocorticoid and androgen synthesis are independently regulated and has had an important impact on current views of the pathogenesis of PCOS.
His laboratory showed that congenital lipoid adrenal hyperplasia is a knockout of the steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR), confirming its biological role; he formulated the two-hit model, explaining its baffling clinical characteristics. His structural analyses show that StAR acts transiently as a molten globule on the outside of mitochondria to facilitate the movement of cholesterol from the outer to the inner mitochondrial membrane. His group also cloned the long-sought vitamin D-1
hydroxylase and showed that its mutations cause vitamin D-dependent rickets. Most recently, Walts group discovered P450 oxidoreductase deficiency, a new form of congenital adrenal hyperplasia first found in patients with Antley-Bixler syndrome, an unanticipated link between steroidogenesis, skeletal development, and pharmacogenetics. Indications of his productivity and the impact of his laboratory include his more than 300 published papers and book chapters and the fact that, according to the ISI, his work has been cited nearly 12,000 times.
Walt is Director of the UCSF Division of Pediatric Endocrinology and its NIH-supported Fellowship Training Program. A gifted mentor of fellows and junior faculty, he is an astoundingly accomplished and rigorous but compassionate clinical pediatric endocrinologist, tireless in his pursuit of detail in clinical circumstances, and a superb, Socratic, bedside teacher. In addition to supervising the clinical training of two dozen clinical fellows, more than 70 fellows, trainees, or young faculty have worked in Walts laboratorya rigorous and demanding experience at the bench and in mastering the art of scientific writing and exposition. He has nurtured their growth and fostered independence.
One of Walts hobbies is making wine, where he practices biochemistry as an art, rather than as a science. His pinot noir, labeled "Nuit St. Wogga Wogga, mis en boutille dans nos garages," is a highly prized, premium winein wine speak he is a "garagiste."
Walt met Synthia Mellon at UCSF, and they have been married for 21 years. Sindy, a longtime member of The Endocrine Society and President of Women in Endocrinology, is a premier investigator of the synthesis and function of neurosteroids.
Walt has lectured in 22 countries and served on many editorial boards, including The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, Endocrinology, Journal of Endocrinology, DNA and Cell Biology, and Molecular Genetics and Metabolism. He was a member of the Biochemical Endocrinology Study Section and currently serves on the Board of Scientific Counselors, NICHD, and the Basil OConnor Starter Scholar Research Award Committee of the March of Dimes. He has received many awards and honors, including the Edwin B. Astwood Award from The Endocrine Society, the Albion O. Bernstein Award, the Clinical Endocrinology Trust Medal from the British Endocrine Societies, Henning Andersen Prize of the European Society for Paediatric Research, Samuel Rosenthal Foundation Prize for Excellence in Academic Pediatrics, and election as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
The Endocrine Society takes special pleasure in recognizing Walt Millers extraordinary accomplishmentthe breadth, rigor, impact of his work, and his integrated use of a broad array of genetic, biophysical, and clinical approaches to human diseaseby awarding him the 2006 Clinical Investigator Award.
Melvin Grumbach
| Citation for the 2006 Gerald D. Aurbach Award Lecture of The Endocrine Society to Dr. Paul A. Kelly |
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Paul has had a life-long interest in unraveling mechanisms for prolactin action. In fact, he has arguably made the most significant contributions to our understanding of prolactin receptor signaling. In 1973, he and his colleagues R. C. Shiu and Henry Friesen published the first radioreceptor assay for prolactin in Science. This work led to the identification of placental lactogenic hormones in numerous species. These discoveries were followed by prolific seminal studies defining the pathophysiology of prolactin and other lactogenic hormones in animals and ultimately in man. In 1988, culminating 15 years of dogged biochemistry and cell biology, Paul reported the cloning and expression of the rat prolactin receptor in 1988 in Cell. The subsequent 17 years saw an explosive growth of our understanding of lactogenic hormone action based on cellular and transgenic models spawned by this discovery. The receptor cloning studies, originally limited to prolactin and growth hormone, were expanded by numerous other laboratories, which resulted in identification of the class I cytokine receptor superfamily, today comprising over 30 members. The study of the downstream events led to the identification by his group and others of the tyrosine kinase, Jak2, and the Stat proteins as mediators of both prolactin and growth hormone actions.
The development of the mouse model of the knockout of the prolactin receptor, published in Genes & Development in 1997, confirmed that prolactin and its receptor were essential to the process of lactation. Interestingly, this model system also led to the identification of numerous other actions of prolactin, including on maternal behavior, bone development, pancreatic ß-cell growth and insulin secretion, lacrimal gland function, hair development, and immune function. More recently, his laboratory has shown that prolactin exhibits antitumor actions, at least for the anterior pituitary and the thyroid.
His group has pioneered the development of therapeutic molecules acting directly as prolactin receptor agonists and antagonists. The most recent pure antagonist is currently being tested in animal model systems of breast cancer and prostate hypertrophy and cancer.
Perhaps Dr. Kellys greatest contributions have been his ever-ready generosity in sharing reagents and transgenic animals and collaborating with multi-faceted investigators worldwide. This has resulted in the entire field of prolactin action in breast, reproductive, adipose, cardiovascular, and cancer tissues being subserved by the creative discoveries emanating from his laboratory. Paul has also carefully nurtured the careers of dozens of young colleagues who have benefited from his wisdom, integrity, and warm personality. The Endocrine Society is proud to honor this researcher, teacher, and leader of the endocrine community.
Shlomo Melmed
| Citation for the 2006 Sidney H. Ingbar Distinguished Service Award of The Endocrine Society to Dr. Robert D. Utiger |
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While at the University of Pennsylvania, as Chief of Endocrinology and Professor of Medicine, he began to train young endocrinologists, which he has continued at the University of North Carolina and now at Harvard Medical School and the Brigham and Womens Hospital.
Also while at the University of Pennsylvania, he began to serve on the committees that set the standards for how endocrinologists and other physicians are trained and tested. He was asked to serve on committee after committee, because of his high standards yet fairness. For over 30 years he served on the National Board of Medical Examiners, as a member of several test committees and as a member of the Board itself. He twice served as a member of American College of Physicians Medical Knowledge Self-Assessment Program in Endocrinology and Metabolism Committee. He served as a member and then chair of the American Board of Internal Medicines Endocrinology and Metabolism Test Committee and a member of the Board itself.
For over 20 years his major service has been as editor of major medical journals. For six years he was Editor-in-Chief of The Journal of Clinical of Endocrinology & Metabolism, and for 11 years Deputy Editor of the New England Journal of Medicine. In these positions his high scientific standards, high standards for clarity of expression, and fairness could be appreciated by reviewers and by authors. He was also Co-Editor-in-Chief of UpToDate in Endocrinology and Metabolism, and currently he is Editor-in-Chief of Clinical Thyroidology. And for its last four editions, he has been Co-Editor of The Thyroid, the leading text of thyroidology, of which Dr. Ingbar was once Editor.
He has also served The Endocrine Society. In addition to Editorship of The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, he was a member and chair of the program committee and a member and chair of the awards committee.
With this award The Endocrine Society honors Dr. Utiger and also itself.
Peter Snyder
| Citation for the 2006 Roy O. Greep Award Lecture of The Endocrine Society to Dr. Benita S. Katzenellenbogen and Dr. John A. Katzenellenbogen |
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John A. Katzenellenbogen, Ph.D., received his A.B. degree from Harvard University and his Ph.D. degree for his graduate studies in chemical synthesis with Professor E. J. Corey at Harvard. He then became an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he is currently the Swanlund Chaired Professor of Chemistry.
These two outstanding scientists have each had extremely distinguished, independent scientific careers, as well as extraordinarily productive collaborations involving novel estrogen receptor ligands synthesized in John Katzenellenbogens laboratory and utilized in Benita Katzenellenbogens laboratory to characterize estrogen receptors and understand the unique biologies of estrogen receptors
and ß.
Dr. Benita Katzenellenbogen is at the forefront in defining structure-function relationships and the actions of the estrogen receptor (ER) in breast cancer and normal tissues, as well as the molecular basis of action of antiestrogens/SERMs. Her laboratory was the first to demonstrate that ER responds to multiple cell signaling pathways involving cAMP, kinase cascades, and growth factors such as IGF-I, illuminating the manner in which phosphorylation modulates receptor activity. In addition, she and her associates have identified proteins that enhance antiestrogen potency and discovered and cloned REA, a repressor of estrogen receptor activity. REA competes with coactivators for binding to ER and mutes the magnitude of estrogen action; its elimination in cellular and animal knockout contexts markedly enhances estrogen responses. She has cloned tamoxifen-induced target genes, including quinone reductase, indicating the importance of antioxidant activity in tamoxifen therapy. Finally, her laboratory has elucidated the many gene networks and pathways under estrogen and SERM regulation, providing new insights into the patterns of gene regulation that are responsible for the proliferative, antiapoptotic, and cytoarchitectural effects of estrogens in breast cancer cells.
Dr. John Katzenellenbogens research has been directed at important aspects of the structure, function, and use of estrogen ligands and steroid receptors in various analytical and biomedical applications. He and his associates prepared the first affinity labeling agent for the estrogen receptor, tamoxifen aziridine, and have synthesized and evaluated many receptor ligands having novel structures and activities, including those most selective for the estrogen receptor subtypes, ER
and ERß. His laboratory has developed an extensive series of steroid receptor-based agents, labeled with fluorine-18 and technetium-99m, for imaging receptor-positive tumors of the breast and prostate by positron emission tomography (PET), and he was the first to image these tumors based on their content of estrogen or androgen receptors. More recently, he has initiated biochemical and biophysical studies on the dynamics of receptor interaction with coregulator proteins.
Among their many joint accomplishments are the synthesis and use of a novel estrogen receptor affinity label, in 1984, to define the physical properties and half-life of the estrogen receptor in target tissues and cells; the identification of an estrogenic contaminant in phenol red that enabled estrogen action to be studied in cell culture systems; the development and use of highly selective ligands to study ER
and ERß function, and, most recently, the preparation and use of estrogen-dendrimer conjugates to study the extra-nuclear actions of estrogen receptors.
Benita and John Katzenellenbogen have received many awards for their scientific contributions. Benita has received the Ernst Oppenheimer Award from The Endocrine Society, the Scientific Distinction Award from the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, the Jill Rose Award from the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, and the Faculty Member of the Year Award from the University of Illinois College of Medicine. Johns many awards include the Berson Yalow Award and the Paul C. Aebersold Award from the Society of Nuclear Medicine and the Cope Scholar Award from the American Chemical Society. Both have been elected Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Nancy Weigel
| Citation for the 2006 Distinguished Educator Award of The Endocrine Society to Dr. Gilbert H. Daniels |
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His clinical scholarship has been outstanding, with over 100 original pieces of work, many of which are considered classics. For instance, in his 2004 JAMA publication on subclinical thyroid disease Gil had the unenviable task of calming a caldron of diverse positions. He has made contributions to the most important text of thyroidology, Werner and Ingbars The Thyroid. From a national and international perspective, his contributions to Harrisons Principles of Internal Medicine since 1987 have been another major accomplishment.
In 1999, Gil was honored with the Distinguished Clinician Award of the American College of Endocrinology. Additionally, Gil has held important leadership positions in all of the major societies representing clinical endocrinology, including the American Thyroid Association, The Endocrine Society, and the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists. Gil has served on the editorial board of multiple journals, most importantly The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. He has also been an ad hoc reviewer for the New England Journal of Medicine, JCI, JAMA, Thyroid, and Archives of Internal Medicine.
At the 1999 Annual Meeting of The Endocrine Society, I sat in awe as Dr. Daniel Federman received and accepted this award for his remarkable achievements in endocrinology scholarship and education. I knew then that Gil Daniels, who had emulated Dans mastery of the power of blackboard teaching, should soon achieve this same well-deserved recognition. In my mind, Gil has taken the concept of scholarship in clinical endocrinology to a new level because of his own contributions as a clinical scientist and his low tolerance for poor scholarship and sloppy clinical medicine. His influence extends nationally, as he has become the gold standard for other academic clinical endocrinologists in the country. He has trained many of the most successful clinical and academic endocrinologists in this country. He is sought for clinical teaching by all of the most venerated endocrinology education programs in the United States.
I would like to join hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of endocrinologists in this country and abroad in saying "Thank God for Gil Daniels and his sustained commitment to excellence in endocrine education."
E. Chester Ridgway
| Citation of the 2006 Distinguished Physician Award of The Endocrine Society to Dr. Glenn D. Braunstein |
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Dr. Braunsteins outstanding peer recognition has been reflected in his election as a Director of the American Board of Internal Medicine and Chairman of the Subspecialty Board of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism. This well-deserved honor confirmed Dr. Braunstein as a national leader in clinical endocrinology. He currently leads a portion of the ABIM Self-Evaluation Process Test Committee for Endocrinology. He recently completed serving a second tenure as Chair of the FDAs Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drug Advisory Committee and was elected as Internal Medicines representative to the American Board of Emergency Medicine. He is the consummate and highly effective ambassador for clinical endocrinology on these prestigious national bodies.
He is the honored recipient of the Morris Press Humanism Award (1984) from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and the Sherman M. Mellinkoff Faculty Award given by the UCLA School of Medicine (2002) for a faculty member whose teaching exemplifies dedication to the art of Medicine and to the finest in doctor-patient relationships.
Dr. Braunstein is a preeminent clinical scientist in the field of placental hormones. His prolific C.V. attests to his scientific achievements and scholarly original contributions to clinical endocrinology. Early in his career, in collaboration with Judy Vaitukaitis and Griff Ross, Glenn developed the original ß-hCG radioimmunoassay, which was the prototype for all of the modern sensitive and specific pregnancy tests. Our understanding of the syndrome of ectopic and eutopic tumor hormone production, which is so well recognized today, is in no small part due to his original observations and discoveries over 30 years ago. His laboratory at Cedars-Sinai has been focused primarily on basic and clinical studies of placental protein hormones, and his accomplishments include an early description of subclinical spontaneous abortion (occult pregnancy); the finding that a wide variety of normal adult, nonpregnant tissues contain small quantities of hCG; the observation that some postmenopausal women secrete excessive quantities of hCG from their pituitary; and demonstrating the intrinsic differences in hormone production between first and third-trimester trophoblasts grown in vitro. More recently, he has been a principal investigator in studies that have shown the efficacy and short-term safety of testosterone treatment of hypoactive sexual desire disorder in surgically menopausal women and has published a series of studies that have examined the various parameters that affect the efficacy of radioactive iodine treatment of thyroid cancer.
Glenn is the master physician-teacher, the "doctor of doctors," and the exemplary distinguished physician and consultant for patients with endocrine disorders. His teaching and patient care dedication exemplify the finest in clinical contributions and his leadership roles in American Medicine.
Shlomo Melmed
| Citation of the 2006 Richard E. Weitzman Memorial Award of The Endocrine Society to Dr. Fabio Broglio |
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After graduation from medical school, Fabio Broglio extended his interest in the characterization of the activity of the somatotroph axis in pathological conditions, in particular in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy. Fabio conducted pioneering studies that provided for the first time a comprehensive description of the physiology of the GH/IGF-I axis, in terms of spontaneous GH secretion, somatotroph responsiveness to classical stimuli and GH Secretagogues, as well as peripheral GH sensitivity in patients with chronic heart failure.
In these same years, after reports of specific binding sites for GH secretagogues in myocardial tissue, Fabio began a long-lasting project that elucidated for the first time positive cardiotropic effects of peptidyl GH secretagogues, namely hexarelin, in normal subjects, patients with GH deficiency, patients with dilated and postischemic dilated cardiomyopathy, and patients with ischemic heart disease. These results indicated a positive inotropic effect of hexarelin in patients with GH deficiency, proposing a new and original concept that GH secretagogues do not exclusively act via stimulation of somatotroph action but also exert independent peripheral actions.
After the isolation in 1999 of ghrelin as a new gastric hormone and endogenous ligand of GH secretagogue receptors, Fabio tested the physiological relevance of most of his previous results with synthetic GHS. The group in Turin was the first reporting a GH-releasing effect of exogenous ghrelin administration in humans and to study its interactions with GHRH, somatostatin, cholinergic agonists and antagonists, and metabolic fuels such as free fatty acids and glucose. Fabios group was the first reporting a GH-independent effect of ghrelin on insulin secretion and, independently, on glucose metabolism. This opened interesting new perspectives for this hormone as a modulator of energy metabolism rather than simply being a natural GH secretagogue.
Taking advantage of his previous experience in the neuroendocrine control of GH secretion, Fabio Broglio then described some of the neuroendocrine factors controlling ghrelin secretion, reporting for the first time in humans that somatostatin represents the most potent inhibitory input on ghrelin secretion known so far and, on the other hand, that cholinergic agonism is one of the few stimulatory inputs on ghrelin secretion.
The interest in the ghrelin field led Dr. Broglios research also to characterize in humans for the first time the endocrine and metabolic actions of cortistatin, a cortical neurohormone sharing high structural homology, and its known five receptor subtypes with native somatostatin, but not all its central actions. The report that cortistatin, but not somatostatin, also binds ghrelin receptors prompted studies on this neuropeptide, which are currently carried out by several groups with promising perspectives.
More recently Fabio focused his interest on unacylated ghrelin, originally considered as an inactive variant of acylated, active ghrelin. He recently described for the fist time that also the unacylated form of ghrelin is biologically active in humans and probably plays an interesting and unexpected role in glucose metabolism.
Steven W. J. Lamberts
| Citation for The Endocrine Society and Pfizer, Inc. International Award for Excellence in Published Clinical Research in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism |
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"Fibroblast Growth Factor 7: An Inhibitor of Phosphate Transport Derived from Oncogenic Osteomalacia-Causing Tumors." Vol. 90, No. 2, p. 10121020. Authors: Thomas O. Carpenter, Bruce K. Ellis, Karl L. Insogna, William M. Philbrick, John Sterpka, and Richard Shimkets. Endocrine Sections of the Departments of Pediatrics (T.O.C., B.K.E.) and Internal Medicine (K.L.I., W.M.P., J.S.), Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520; and CuraGen Corp. (R.S.), New Haven, Connecticut 06511.
"Genetic Classification of Benign and Malignant Thyroid Follicular Neoplasia Based on a Three-Gene Combination." Vol. 90, No. 5, p. 25122521. Authors: Frank Weber, Lei Shen, Micheala A. Aldred, Carl D. Morrison, Andrea Frilling, Motoyasu Saji, Frank Schuppert, Christoph E. Broelsch, Matthew D. Ringel, and Charis Eng. Clinical Cancer Genetics Program (F.W., C.E.), Human Cancer Genetics Program (F.W., M.D.R., C.E.), Comprehensive Cancer Center (M.S., M.D.R., C.E.), and Divisions of Endocrinology and Metabolism (M.S., M.D.R.) and Human Genetics (C.E.), Department of Internal Medicine, Department of Molecular Virology, Immunology and Medical Genetics (F.W., C.E.), Division of Epidemiology and Biometrics (L.S.), Department of Pathology (C.D.M.), The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210; Department of General Surgery and Transplantation (F.W., A.F., C.E.B.), University of Essen, 45122 Essen, Germany; Department of Internal Medicine (F.S.), Hospital Bad Oeynhausen, 32545 Bad Oeynhausen, Germany; Division of Medical Genetics (M.A.A.), University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, United Kingdom; and Cancer Research UK Human Cancer Genetics Research Group (C.E.), University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1XZ, United Kingdom.
"High Sensitivity of Human Melatonin, Alertness, Thermoregulation, and Heart Rate to Short Wavelength Light." Vol. 90, No. 3, p. 13111316. Authors: Christian Cajochen, Mirjam Münch, Szymon Kobialka, Kurt Kräuchi, Roland Steiner, Peter Oelhafen, Selim Orgül, and Anna Wirz-Justice. Centre for Chronobiology (C.C., M.M., S.K., K.K., A.W.-J.), Psychiatric University Clinic, CH-4025 Basel, Switzerland; Institute of Physics (R.S., P.O.), University of Basel, CH-4056 Basel, Switzerland; and Eye Clinic, University Hospital (S.O.), CH-4012 Basel, Switzerland.
"Kisspeptin-54 Stimulates the Hypothalamic-Pituitary Gonadal Axis in Human Males." Vol. 90, No. 12, p. 66096615. Authors: Waljit S. Dhillo, Owais B. Chaudhri, Michael Patterson, Emily L. Thompson, Kevin G. Murphy, Michael K. Badman, Barbara M. McGowan, Vian Amber, Sejal Patel, Mohammad A. Ghatei, and Stephen R. Bloom. Department of Metabolic Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital, London W12 ONN, United Kingdom.
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