Guest speakers John E. Nestler and Sally Radovick reported on their own research and discussed the pioneering work of others in the field of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome.
“Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: Mechanisms and Concerns” was the theme of the 8th Annual Pioneers in Endocrinology Workshop held at the Cook Student Center on Sept. 16. This annual daylong workshop was sponsored by the Rutgers Endocrine Program; Department of Animal Sciences at the Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences (SEBS); Rutgers NJAES Cooperative Extension; Rutgers–Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (RWJMS) Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Nutrition; and the New Jersey Obesity Group. More than 120 students, postdocs, faculty, and staff attended the event, which comprised morning presentations and an afternoon poster session.
The following individuals welcomed the participants and gave opening remarks: Dipak Sarkar, Endocrine Program Director; Robert Goodman, SEBS Executive Dean; Brian Strom, Chancellor of Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences; and Christopher Molloy, Rutgers Senior Vice President for Research and Economic Development.
Louis Amorosa, professor of Medicine and chief of the RWJMS Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Nutrition, introduced the first invited speaker, Sally Radovick, who recently joined Rutgers-RWJMS as professor of Pediatrics and Senior Associate Dean for Clinical and Translational Research. Her talk was titled, “Kisspeptin Regulation of Reproduction and Metabolism: Translational Studies of Human Disease and Mouse Models.” A question-and-answer session following this talk was led by Sue Shapses, professor of Nutritional Sciences and Director of the New Jersey Obesity Group.
Carol Bagnell, professor of animal sciences, introduced the second speaker, John Nestler, MD, William Branch Porter Professor of Medicine and chair of the Department of Internal Medicine at the Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University. Nestler’s presentation was titled “PCOS and Insulin Resistance: A Clinical and Basic Research Travelogue.” Following this talk, Larry Katz, director of Rutgers Cooperative Extension and professor of animal sciences, led a question-and-answer session.
Al left, Wendie Cohick, professor and chair of the Department of Animal Sciences, stands with graduate student Hillary Stires who participated in the afternoon poster session.
The afternoon featured 53 posters reporting state-of-the-art endocrine research being conducted at Rutgers and other universities.
Industry partners EMD Millipore, Cen-Med Enterprises, Bioactives American Corporation, BioExpress and VWR were represented at the workshop and hosted display booths. Their financial contributions to the workshop were much appreciated, especially by the student attendees who enjoyed a free lunch.
Following the poster session, faculty participated in a roundtable meeting with the two speakers. Additional photos of the workshop are displayed on the program website, endocrine.rutgers.edu.
