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THE ENDOCRINE SOCIETY 2000 ANNUAL AWARDS

	Citation for the 2000 Fred Conrad Koch Award of The Endocrine Society to Dr. C. Ronald Kahn

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Dr. C. Ronald Kahn has been a pioneer and leader in elucidating the mechanisms of action of insulin and the altered insulin signal transduction in the pathogenesis of diabetes in humans. Initially with colleagues at the NIH, he studied the insulin receptor interaction and the first diseases associated with altered receptor expression, the insulin receptor deficiency of obesity, and the human forms of diabetes mellitus due to antireceptor antibodies or genetic defects in the insulin receptor. There, he and his co-workers also provided evidence that receptor aggregation is essential for hormone signaling and were the first to identify the next steps in insulin action, the autophosphorylation and tyrosine kinase activity of the insulin receptor. Subsequently, in his lab in Boston, Kahn and his collaborators were the first to identify, purify, and clone a substrate for the insulin receptor tyrosine kinase activity, termed IRS-1. When IRS-1 was knocked-out by homologous recombination, they identified additional new pathways for insulin signaling. He has used these and other related knockout mice to create novel polygenic models of diabetes that mimic the complexities of the human disease. He and his collaborators have also defined interactions between molecules in the IRS family and intermediate signaling molecules, such as PI 3-kinase, their alterations in diabetes, and cross-talk with other signaling systems. Most recently, he and his colleagues have knocked out insulin action in one tissue type at a time, thereby elucidating new roles of insulin in liver, muscle, fat, brain, and islet cells. His scholarly work has resulted in over 450 papers, chapters, and review articles.

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His research has been widely appreciated by the scientific community. He is the recipient of the David Rumbough Award of the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation (1977); Eli Lilly Award of the American Diabetes Association (1981); CIBA-Geigy Drew Award for Biochemical Research (1981); Award for Outstanding Research from American Federation for Clinical Research (1983); Biomedical Research Award from Pfizer (1986); Astwood Award Lecture of The Endocrine Society (1987); Elliott P. Joslin Medal from the American Diabetes Association (1989); Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) from the University of Paris (1990); Banting Medal for Distinguished Scientific Achievement, American Diabetes Association (1993); Solomon Berson Lecture of the American Physiological Society (1997); and the Albert Renold Award of the American Diabetes Association for outstanding mentorship of young investigators (1998).

He is a member of Alpha Omega Alpha, American Academy of Arts & Sciences, Association of American Physicians, American Diabetes Association, American Society of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Biology, American Society for Clinical Investigation (President, 1988–1989), National Diabetes Advisory Board, National Academy of Sciences, and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Kahn also chaired the Congressionally mandated Diabetes Research Work Group and is a member of the Advisory Council of NIDDK. He has participated actively in The Endocrine Society, including service as a Council Member from 1990–1993.

Ron Kahn’s research achievements have provided remarkable new insights into fundamental concepts of insulin signaling and diabetes mellitus in man, for which he has been selected as this year’s recipient of the Fred Conrad Koch Award, The Endocrine Society’s highest award for scientific achievement.

Jesse Roth

	Citation for the 2000 Ernst Oppenheimer Award of The Endocrine Society to Dr. Christopher K. Glass

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The awards committee of The Endocrine Society presents the Ernst Oppenheimer award for 2000 to Dr. Christopher K. Glass, who has made critical contributions to the field of nuclear receptors, transcription, macrophage biology, and atherosclerosis. Chris has contributed a series of discoveries to these fields by his creative research program dedicated to the study of the inflammatory blood cell macrophage. Chris is a native of Oakland, CA, and obtained his degree in Biology at the University of California, Berkeley, in Biophysics and his M.D., Ph.D. from UCSD in MSB. Chris performed his doctoral research in the laboratory of Dr. Daniel Steinberg, where he studied high-density lipoprotein physiology, demonstrating that the lipid and protein components could be taken up separately, in contrast to the classical low-density lipoprotein receptor pathway. This defined an important pathway for reverse cholesterol transport. After serving as a house officer at Harvard’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital, his postdoctoral studies were performed at UCSD. Chris made a series of important contributions to the definition of nuclear receptor binding sites and novel heterodimeric partners for retinoic acid receptor, and he was then appointed as an Assistant Professor at UCSD. He has risen through the academic ranks and is now a Professor of Molecular and Cell Biology in the Department of Medicine at UCSD.

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In addition, a series of contributions were made to our understanding of nuclear receptor actions. These have included the initial example of altered polarity of retinoic acid receptor binding (RAR) on a specific DNA response element with consequences on ligand-dependent binding of co-repressor. Further, his laboratory established the initial links between the JAK/STAT and CBP/p300. These studies provided insights into the regulation of CBP coactivator complexes by E1A, and studies of the retinoic acid receptor, RXR, and responses to ligand that led to a molecular model by which the AF2 domain of receptors regulates ligand binding of its heterodimeric partner. The molecular basis of this was established in a collaborative study that established the cocrystal structure of the LXXLL domains in a hydrophobic pocket based on a specific charge clamp provided by charged residues in AF2 and helix 3 of the nuclear receptor ligand binding domain.

In addition to his research contributions, Chris is a leader in many aspects of academic activities at UCSD, having served on editorial boards, as a mentor for many successful graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and as director of the Research Residency Program at UCSD. Chris is a rigorous, clear thinking, creative scientist, and a delightful colleague.

Chris Glass has established himself in a short decade as one of our most imaginative and productive investigators, with contributions to the fields of development, atherosclerosis, macrophage biology, and gene transcription. He is clearly a leader, and The Endocrine Society in acknowledging his accomplishments with this award does so with the confidence that Chris will continue to contribute important discoveries to these fields in the future.

Michael G. Rosenfeld

	Citation for the 2000 Robert H. Williams Distinguished Leadership Award of The Endocrine Society to Dr. William W. Chin

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The Endocrine Society is pleased to present the 2000 Robert H. Williams Distinguished Leadership Award to William W. Chin, M.D., Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Vice President, Gene Regulation Research, Lilly Research Laboratories. In addition to his many outstanding research accomplishments, Bill has mentored several generations of research endocrinologists who have established successful research careers throughout the world. Bill is noted for being among a select few individuals of the founding generation of molecular endocrinologists who first made use of the early emerging recombinant DNA technology to clone genes encoding proteins, and thereby to discover the structures and functions of hormone genes. A theme weaving throughout Bill’s research is a blending of basic laboratory discoveries with their physiologic relevance in whole animal studies and in studies of human subject volunteers, exemplified by his demonstrations that mutations in the thyroid hormone receptor and in coactivator proteins cause thyroid hormone resistance in humans.

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In 1984 Bill became the Head of Molecular Genetics at the Joslin Research Center and Chief of the newly formed Laboratory of Molecular Genetics at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Staffed by his first echelon of eager postdoctoral trainees, Frances Carr, Soheyla Gharib, Margaret Weirman, and Eliot Spindel, and under Bill’s expert guidance launched a multidisciplinary attack on the problems of the molecular mechanisms of TSH and LH gene transcription and the molecular biology of thyroid hormone and GnRH receptors.

Word of the sky-rocketing success of the new Chin lab soon got around and attracted several newly minted highly promising young investigators, including Mitch Lazar, John Burnside, Lee Kaplan, and Doug Darling, followed 3 yr later by yet a third wave of outstanding postdocs: Paul Yen, Ursula Kaiser, Akira Sugawara, and Masito Ikeda, all of whom have gone on to successful independent research careers. More recently, Bill and his co-workers have been actively analyzing the functions of a whole new family of nuclear regulatory proteins, the coactivator and corepressor proteins.

A most endearing characteristic of Bill is his boundless energy and enthusiasm for his work. He instills a sense of excitement to all who come in contact with him. Bill is a superb teacher of the scientific method and the importance of having innovative ideas. Bill’s postdocs have benefited enormously from his teaching that the underpinnings of successful research are good hypotheses.

Last year Bill took a bold leap in his illustrious career by becoming Vice President of Gene Regulation Research at Eli Lilly. He harkened to the call of the new era of bench-to-bedside translational research and now eagerly looks forward to seeing his discoveries and those of others becoming a reality in the treatment of disease.

Bill has given generously of his time to many societies by service as councilor and editorial board member. He has also received many awards, including the Van Meter Award of the American Thyroid Association and the Amoroso Prize from the Fertility Society, among others. His remarkable success in training several generations of new investigators imbued with his spirit of creativity and enthusiasm has perpetuated the progress of Biomedical Research. For all of these reasons, Bill Chin richly deserves the 2000 Robert H. Williams Distinguished Leadership Award.

Joel F. Habener, M.D.

	Citation for the 2000 Edwin B. Astwood Award Lecture of The Endocrine Society to Dr. Jeffrey M. Rosen

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Dr. Jeffrey M. Rosen is an internationally recognized leader in the area of hormonal regulation and molecular biology of mammary gland gene expression. The objective of Dr. Rosen’s laboratory for the past 25 yr has been to elucidate the mechanisms regulating the normal development of the mammary gland including the hormonal control of milk protein gene expression, and to determine how these regulatory mechanisms have deviated in breast cancer. His laboratory was one of the first to study and define the mechanisms by which peptide and steroid hormones cooperate to regulate milk protein gene expression at both the transcriptional and posttranscriptional levels. Using this system, Jeff defined the roles and interactions of estrogen, progesterone, glucocorticoid, PRL, and other peptide growth factors. More recently, his laboratory established that composite response elements integrate steroid and peptide hormone-mediated signal transduction pathways and mediate the tissue-specific and developmental regulation of milk protein gene expression. The role of specific transcription factors and their dominant-negative isoforms, including members of the CAAT-enhancer binding protein, Stats, NF-I families, and nuclear receptors have been elucidated using in vitro as well as transgenic and knockout mouse models. Studies in mouse models have been translated to the analysis of alterations in the levels of these factors in breast cancer using primary tissue biopsies.

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In addition, Jeff’s laboratory developed methods that permitted the analysis of both gain and loss of specific gene functions, selectively, in the mammary gland. For example, transgenic mouse models have been generated that mimic highly aneuploid human breast cancers using a gain-of-function p53 mutant. Analogous studies also have led to the development of an unique mouse model for prostate cancer in collaboration with two former postdoctoral fellows, Dr. Norman Greenberg and Dr. Robert Matusik. Dr. Rosen is a coinventor of a transgenic mouse termed TRAMP. This mouse model, subsequently used by over 200 investigators worldwide, is the premier animal model for studies directed toward diagnosis and cure of human prostate cancer. He has authored approximately 150 publications and book chapters dealing with hormonal regulation of gene expression, signal transduction, normal mammary gland development, and transgenic animal models and ranks as one of the world’s premier molecular endocrinologists.

Dr. Rosen is a superb thinker and is well known among his colleagues for his encyclopedic memory and his sharp wit. As a Charles C. Bell Professor in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, he has contributed greatly to the formation of an endocrine unit that is recognized worldwide. He is a consistent vocal advocate for graduate education and has been a leader in the organization of his departmental graduate program, in the organization of interdepartmental programs in Cell and Molecular Biology and as a co-director of the school M.D./Ph.D. program. In all instances he has acted as a statesman for graduate education and student rights.

Finally, Jeff is an admired and respected member of the Molecular Endocrinology community with participation on numerous national study sections and committees and editorial boards, including a stint as Associate Editor of Molecular Endocrinology. He and his wife, Madeline, and daughter, Jennifer, have a long-standing circle of friends, extending over many years in Houston and throughout the world. Jeff is thought of fondly by his friends, but to his scientific colleagues, he is idealized in terms of his superlative scholarship. He epitomizes the American Academician, and he brings great honor to the list of past awardees as this year’s recipient of the Edwin B. Astwood Award Lecture of The Endocrine Society.

Bert O’Malley

	Citation for the 2000 Monsanto Clinical Investigator Award Lecture of The Endocrine Society to Dr. William F. Crowley

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In the 1970s, there was a revolution in endocrinology following the isolation and sequencing of GnRH. It was rapidly demonstrated that this peptide was the key to understanding reproductive physiology. Bill Crowley has spent his career using this key to unlock the mysteries of human reproduction.

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Bill Crowley also proposed that, if continuous GnRH suppressed gonadotropin release, then pulsatile GnRH administration should restore it in GnRH-deficient humans. He proved this concept in a series of elegant studies in GnRH-deficient women and men. He showed for the first time that pulsatile GnRH could restore a normal menstrual cycle in GnRH-deficient women and induce puberty in GnRH-deficient men. It was clear from this early work that the frequency, the amount, and the route of GnRH administration were critical factors in restoring normal reproductive function. In a series of complex clinical studies using sophisticated analyses of pulsatile LH release, he defined the physiology of normal GnRH secretion in men and in women throughout the menstrual cycle. He elucidated the impact of gonadal steroids on the frequency and the amount of GnRH secreted as well as the impact of alterations in GnRH delivery on LH and FSH release.

Bill Crowley was again able to make quantal advances in elucidating the neuroendocrine control of human reproduction by using GnRH antagonists as physiologic probes as soon as they became available. These permitted him to further dissect the independent impact of the frequency compared with the quantity of GnRH secreted. He also quickly worked to define the role of inhibin, activin, and follistatin in regulating human reproduction as these hormones were identified. Through his research, we now have a comprehensive picture of the complex interplay between GnRH, gonadal steroids, activin, and inhibin on modulating gonadotropin secretion in human health and disease.

His research has been a paradigm for the study of human physiology with its use of precisely controlled, detailed in vivo studies and novel pharmacologic probes. He has developed an exemplary research and training center in reproductive services, bringing together the best of basic and clinical research. He has also been an outspoken champion for clinical investigation and a mentor to a new generation of superb clinical investigators.

In the space of approximately 20 yr, Bill Crowley has brought GnRH physiology to the bedside. He has never rested on his laurels and has rapidly seen the clinical implications of new discoveries in neuroendocrinology. His profound impact on the field is indicated by the fact that the therapies he pioneered are now standard treatments for precocious puberty and for hypogonadotropic hypogonadism. He has been the master cartographer of human reproduction. Bill Crowley is a quintessential clinical investigator who has translated basic research to the understanding and treatment of human disease and who has developed novel scientific insights from the study of patients.

Andrea Dunaif

	Citation for the 2000 Gerald D. Aurbach Award Lecture of The Endocrine Society to Dr. Marvin Gershengorn

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Marvin Gershengorn is a world leader in the study of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). As these receptors make up the largest family of receptors found in humans, are involved in many human diseases, and are specific targets for approximately 50% of the drugs used in clinical medicine today, the importance of his work is exceptional. He is one of the true groundbreakers in endocrinology, and a distinguished choice for this high honor.

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Marv’s research began with a series of important studies of thyroxine-binding globulin. He was an innovator in delineating the signal transduction pathway used by TRH in pituitary cells. These investigations of TRH action were performed at a time when the phosphoinositide-inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate-calcium-protein kinase C signal transduction pathway was first being described and were model studies for all GPCRs that couple to this signaling pathway. He then cloned the receptor for TRH using an expression strategy. This was the first receptor for a hypothalamic releasing factor to be cloned.

Marv performed groundbreaking studies on the structure and function of the TRH receptor. His pioneering use of an iterative approach combining computer modeling and molecular/biochemical experimental analysis has begun to delineate the molecular mechanism of TRH receptor function at an atomic level of resolution. This approach has been taken up by a number of laboratories around the world and applied successfully to study of other GPCRs.

He and his laboratory group have also studied calcitonin receptor biology. Like TRH, calcitonin binds to receptors on cell surfaces leading to activation of a heterotrimeric G protein-coupled(s) that in turn activates an effector enzyme, a phosphoinositide-specific phospholipase C or adenylyl cyclase, or both. Using complementary DNAs (cDNAs) that encode these receptors and techniques of molecular genetics, they have studied the structure-function relationships of hormone and antagonist binding to these receptors, coupling of the receptors to the G proteins, and mechanisms of regulation of receptor synthesis, internalization, desensitization, down-regulation, and degradation.

Most recently, Marv has described a receptor encoded by Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpes virus, the etiologic agent of Kaposi’s sarcoma and primary effusion lymphoma, which he showed exhibits oncogenic properties that are unique for this family of receptors. This receptor appears to be a proximate cause of these tumors and Marv has described a number of agonists and inverse agonists (negative antagonists) that may serve as lead drugs for the treatment of these diseases.

Marv has received many honors, including the Irma T. Hirschl-Monique Weill-Caulier Career Scientist Award in 1981, a USPHS Research Career Development Award (1979–1983), the Van Meter USV Award from the American Thyroid Association in 1985, the Boots Pharmaceutical Mentor Award for Outstanding Thyroid Research from The Endocrine Society in 1996, the Sidney H. Ingbar Distinguished Leadership Award from the American Thyroid Association in 1998, and the Solomon A. Berson Medical Alumni Achievement Award in Clinical Science from New York University School of Medicine in 1999. He is currently a Director of the American Thyroid Association and the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology. As he is one of the primary practitioners of clinical research today, an outstanding mentor to dozens of young scientists, and a much-loved and admired colleague, it is a pleasure to present The Endocrine Society’s Gerald D. Aurbach Award Lecture to this distinguished New Yorker.

Maria I. New

	Citation for the 2000 Sidney H. Ingbar Distinguished Service Award of The Endocrine Society to Dr. Frank Talamantes

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The Sidney H. Ingbar Distinguished Service Award is made this year to Frank Talamantes in recognition of his broad efforts on behalf of the endocrine community, in particular for his dedication to increasing participation of underrepresented minorities in science.

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Frank has translated these activities in his laboratory to the national scene. He has served on the NIH Minority Access to Research Careers study section, and on many site visit panels that evaluate and advise educational and research programs at minority institutions. Frank has also been a longtime and active member of SACNAS, the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science, and served as president of this organization from 1987–1990. Frank’s commitment to minority student education and to minority student participation in research in his own laboratory and nationwide laid the groundwork for many of the programs that focus on minority students. The recent mandates for inclusion and success of minority students in federally funded predoctoral training programs would simply not have been possible without Frank’s much earlier leadership in creating an environment at Santa Cruz and promoting similar activities at other institutions that foster minority undergraduate student participation in science. His leadership has often been recognized: in 1989 the American Association for Higher Education awarded Frank for "Outstanding Leadership and Contributions to Education in the Hispanic Community;" in both 1988 and 1998 Hispanic Business Magazine named Frank one of the "100 Most Influential Hispanics;" and in 1998 SACNAS presented Frank with its first "Distinguished Scientist Award." In addition to his activities to promote minorities in science, Frank has served on NIH and NSF study sections, was associate editor of Endocrinology, and organized and chaired the 1990 PRL Gordon Conference.

What makes Frank’s extensive service accomplishments even more remarkable is that he has simultaneously maintained one of the most productive endocrinology research groups. The author of more than 150 research publications, Frank received the NIH MERIT award in 1989, delivered the 1991 "Transatlantic Medal" lecture to the British Society for Endocrinology, accepted the Society for the Study of Reproduction research award in 1993, and this year will present the Solomon Berson Distinguished Lecture at the Experimental Biology Meeting of the American Physiological Society. He has been at the forefront of the study of placental endocrinology for the past quarter-century, and through his extreme generosity with reagents he has made possible research progress in laboratories throughout the world. Frank’s work has concentrated on the PRL/GH family, with major contributions in identifying and characterizing placental hormones in this family, their receptors—notably the structure and expression of the mouse GH receptor and their physiological functions. By analyzing placental hormone function, Frank and his colleagues have provided numerous insights into hormonal regulation of various target tissues, including the uterus, mammary gland, liver, ovary, and pancreas. In addition to fundamental discoveries made about this hormone family and their targets, his research has repeatedly alerted the endocrine field about the importance of homologous assays in which all components of the experimental system derive from the same species.

For all of these accomplishments, it is with great pleasure and pride that The Endocrine Society bestows upon Frank Talamantes the year 2000 Sidney H. Ingbar Distinguished Service Award.

Daniel I. Linzer

	Citation for the 2000 Roy O. Greep Award Lecture of The Endocrine Society to Dr. Christin Carter-Su

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The recipient of the year 2000 Roy O. Greep Award Lecture is Dr. Christin Carter-Su. Dr. Christin Carter-Su was born in Oakland, CA, and received her undergraduate education at Brown University where she graduated Magna Cum Laude in Applied Mathematics, followed by M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in biophysics from the University of Rochester. She has done postdoctoral fellowships with Dr. George Kimmich at the University of Rochester School of Medicine in the area of membrane biophysics and with Dr. Michael Czech, at Brown University in the area of regulatory biochemistry. She then joined the faculty of the University of Michigan Medical School in 1981 as an Assistant Professor of Physiology. Since that time, she has grown through the academic ranks to be both Professor of Physiology and Associate Director of the Diabetes Research and Training Center at the University of Michigan.

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In the late 1980s, when giant leaps were being made in our understanding of how many growth factors and hormones elicit their cellular responses, GH stood out as a hormone for which the mechanism of action was virtually unknown. At that time, Dr. Carter-Su hypothesized that GH, like other growth factors, activated a tyrosine kinase. For a number of years, the scientific community met this hypothesis with a great deal of skepticism because the receptor for GH has been cloned and it did not have homology with known tyrosine kinases. Dr. Carter-Su carefully and methodically provided proof that her hypothesis was indeed correct. In 1993, she demonstrated that an early, and most likely initial step in GH action, was the activation of the GH receptor-associated tyrosine kinase JAK2. This finding represented a tremendous advance in our understanding of how GH acts in the cell by providing insight into how GH can initiate its diverse responses. Importantly, it also provided a prototype for how the entire family of cytokine receptors initiate cellular signaling.

Christy and her colleagues have remained at the forefront of this field, determining the earliest events in GH signaling initiated as a consequence of JAK2 activation. Her laboratory was among the first to demonstrate that GH activates: 1) the Shc/grb2/SOS/ras/raf/MEK/ERK pathway, which is involved in the regulation of early response genes; 2) insulin receptor substrate (IRS) proteins that may be involved in mediating some of the insulin-like metabolic effects of GH; 3) signal transducers and activators of transcription (Stat) involved in the regulation of a variety of genes; and 4) SIRPa, an SHP2 phosphatase binding protein whose function is currently unknown. She has most recently used the yeast two-hybrid system to identify a new signaling molecule, SH2-Bb that not only interacts with JAK2 but also serves as an adapter protein for a large number of cytokines and growth factors.

As a result of this body of work, Dr. Carter-Su has published more than 85 papers in peer review journals. Dr. Carter-Su has worked as a plenary speaker at International symposia on GH and related factors. In addition, she has served on the Editorial Boards of Endocrinology, the American Journal of Physiology, Molecular Endocrinology, and Endocrine Reviews. She has also trained more than twenty graduate students and thirty undergraduates as well as numerous postdoctoral fellows. Throughout her career, Dr. Carter Su has acted as an exemplary collaborator, educator, and most recently, administrator who tirelessly advises and advocates for younger colleagues, women, and minorities. Her work has defined the field of GH signaling and her actions have demonstrated her leadership in endocrinology. It is for these reasons that Dr. Carter-Su is truly deserving of the Roy O. Greep Lecture Award.

C. Ronald Kahn

	Citation for the 2000 Distinguished Educator Award of The Endocrine Society to Dr. Stanley Korenman

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As a student of endocrinology, as a researcher, and as an educator Stan Korenman has had a rich and varied career. In high school in Brooklyn, NY, he became a Westinghouse Talent Search Finalist by demonstrating that comic books did not interfere with the reading of "good" books by first through eighth grade students and got to shake Harry Truman’s hand. Subsequently, he was blessed by outstanding mentors who made him what he is today. As a Princeton undergraduate he was recruited to endocrinology by W.W. Swingle and his adrenalectomized dogs, kept alive with a lipid extract of bovine adrenals. He did research with Joe Jailer as a medical student at Columbia, P&S (M.D. in 1958), where he became acquainted with Seymor Lieberman, Nick Christy, and others. During his residency he came under the tutelage of Rulon Rawson, Marty Sonenberg, and Sam Koide. At the NIH he came under the spell of Mort Lipsett and Griff Ross as he addressed androgen production and metabolism. After a sabbatical in Chris Anfinsen’s lab, he addressed hormone action by pioneering the chick oviduct model that elucidated transcriptional control of estrogen and progesterone action. He had the good fortune to transition from trainee to mentor when Bert O’Malley joined the lab as his clinical associate.

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In 1970 Stan moved to the University of Iowa as Chief of Endocrinology and Professor of Biochemistry. He was the first Board Certified endocrinologist in the state. He developed clinical training programs and recruited distinguished scholars, including Daryl Granner and Barry Sherman, with whom he characterized menstrual cycle changes throughout life into the menopausal transition. He proposed that inhibin existed in females and was a more important hormone in women than in men. Studies of the interaction between cell-surface mediated and transcriptionally mediated events in rodent uterine contractility were begun with studies of homologous and heterologous down-regulation of catecholamine and prostaglandin receptors.

He returned to Los Angeles in 1974 to develop a new affiliate of UCLA in the San Fernando Valley as chief of Medicine. He was responsible for a substantial house staff and fellowship training program and for growth from 20 to 50 faculty. He undertook investigation of sexual dysfunction in men at a time when internists did not ask about erectile function and showed that mild hypogonadism and ED are common problems in older men that require medical assessment, treatment, and research.

But this award is for educational initiatives. While Chief in the Valley, he persuaded the Dean of UCLA’s Medical School and the NIH that UCLA needed and deserved a Medical Scientist Training Program. He has been its director for 16 yr, as it grew from 15 to 84 students. In 1989, Stan left the San Fernando Valley to become Associate Dean for Educational Development at the School of Medicine. Innovations to the Medical School curriculum followed, including a doctoring course, clinical competency evaluation using standardized patients, and greater use of computer-based instruction, as well as transition to a nongraded curriculum.

During this period, he became interested in research ethics. With NSF funding, he investigated the professional norms of scientists. In association with the AAMC and coauthor Alan Shipp, he wrote the book Teaching the Responsible Conduct of Research, which has been adopted by many institutions. He also directs numerous workshops and a well-received course in "Responsible Research Behavior" for trainees at UCLA.

From 1992–1997, Stan headed the Endocrine Division at UCLA-CHS. He enhanced the quality of fellows, clinical care, and teaching. He recently edited a series of five Atlases of Endocrinologyfor the purpose of enhancing the teaching of endocrinology at all levels.

In 1998 Stan was put in charge of The Endocrine Society’s new Ethics Advisory Committee. He has guided the completion of a draft of a Code of Ethics for the Society and its members. The Committee has made education in research and clinical ethics a priority and has developed scenario sets for teaching at the annual meetings.

Stan’s approach has been to trust his trainees and colleagues. To scientists he advises: "Take chances; try something new and difficult; success is that much sweeter." To the clinician, his advice is: "Think hard about your patients. Endocrinology is intellectually difficult to do really well." To trainees he says: "Training in medicine or science is not preparation for life, it is life."

Lutz Birnbaumer

	Citation for the 2000 Distinguished Physician Award of The Endocrine Society to Dr. Michael O. Thorner

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Dr. Michael O. Thorner is one of the world’s foremost endocrinologists and clinical investigators. His basic and clinical studies have major scientific and clinical value. Dr. Thorner’s work exemplifies the finest combination of clinical and basic research, with both scientific and clinical value. Thorner has made three major contributions:

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2) An astute clinical observation led to the discovery of GH-releasing hormone (GHRH). One of Thorner’s patients with acromegaly underwent pituitary surgery but was not cured. The pathology demonstrated hyperplasia of the GH-secreting cells of the pituitary, rather than the expected tumor. This led Thorner to search for an ectopic source of the long-sought GHRH. He identified a tumor in the tail of the pancreas; removal of the tumor led to cessation of the excessive GH secretion within 1 h. Thorner, with his colleagues, presented evidence that the tumor contained GHRH and provided the tumor to Drs. Vale and Guillemin at The Salk Institute. The GHRH was isolated, sequenced, and ultimately cloned from the tumor. Thorner’s basic science research helped elucidate the mechanism of GHRH action and the cloning of the GHRH receptor. In his clinical studies, synthetic GHRH was first administered to normal volunteers and to children and adults with GH deficiency. He demonstrated that GHRH selectively stimulated GH secretion and that GH deficiency is most commonly due to GHRH deficiency. Chronic administration of GHRH leads to restoration of a normal growth pattern in children with GH deficiency.

3) In collaborative clinical studies with Dr. C. Y. Bowers, he demonstrated that the GH-releasing peptide, a synthetic hexapeptide that acts through a distinct receptor, acts synergistically with GHRH. In 24 h infusion studies in normal volunteers, he showed that this compound could stimulate pulsative GH secretion. On this basis, Merck Research Laboratories selected a long-acting spiropiperidine GHRP mimetic for human studies. Thorner led the team that demonstrated that GH secretion in the elderly can be stimulated in a physiological, pulsatile fashion with a daily oral dosing. The ability to restore GH secretion to that seen in young adults may have a major impact on the health and quality of life of our older population.

Thorner is widely sought as a leader in translational clinical investigation and advises General Clinical Research Centers on their programs. His past recognition for outstanding clinical investigation includes the Albin O. Bernstein Award (1985), Virginia’s Outstanding Scientist Award (1991), the Edwin B. Astwood Award of The Endocrine Society (1995), the General Clinical Research Center Program Annual Award for Excellence in Clinical Research (1995), the Pituitary Society’s Annual Award for Contributions to Understanding Pituitary Disease (1995), and the John Phillips Memorial Award of the American College of Physicians (1999).

At the University of Virginia, Thorner successfully directed the GCRC and led the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism to its current No. 5 rating by U.S. News and World Report. As Professor and Chair of the Department of Medicine, he is leading the department to excellence in clinical care, teaching and research.

Dr. Thorner received his M.B.B.S. with honors in therapeutics and applied pharmacology from the University of London in 1970 and his D.Sc. degree from the same institution in 1988. His residency in medicine was obtained at the Middlesex, the Brompton, and the St. Bartholomew’s Hospitals in London, UK, and he completed a research fellowship with Professor Gordon M. Besser at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital in 1975. He was Lecturer in Medicine there until 1977, when he was recruited as Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Virginia.

Robert M. Carey

	Citation for the 2000 Richard E. Weitzman Award of The Endocrine Society to Dr. Teresa K. Woodruff

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The Endocrine Society takes pleasure in announcing the recipient of the Richard E. Weitzman Award for 2000: Teresa K. Woodruff, Ph.D., of Northwestern University, Evanston, IL.

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Teresa’s research interests range more widely than is usual in a young investigator. In addition to her work in the molecular biology of the inhibin-activin family, she has applied her skills to several physiological and clinical problems. She continues to be interested in the physiological system, which regulates FSH secretion, and involves members of the activin-inhibin family. She has also played an important role in developing reagents and assays widely used in the inhibin research community.

A major interest has been the nature of the intragonadal actions of inhibin and activin. She first demonstrated activity of inhibin and activin within the gonad itself, establishing the important paracrine roles played by these molecules. She has mapped binding sites for these peptides in testis and ovary. An important unfinished problem in the inhibin field has been the identification of true receptors for this hormone. Specific inhibin binding to target cells in the pituitary gland and in the ovary has been shown by several groups, including hers. Teresa and her colleagues demonstrated that the ovary of the inhibin -subunit knockout mouse contains a high affinity-binding site for inhibin, with low binding for activin. In an insightful editorial in Endocrinology (140:3, 1999) she advanced a number of testable hypotheses regarding inhibin "receptors" in several tissues, and she has recently isolated a high affinity inhibin binding protein. In addition to her studies of the inhibin receptor, she has been probing the signal transduction pathways for inhibin, examining Smad protein involvement.

An important characteristic of Teresa is her skill as a collaborator. I saw this while she was a graduate student—she and Kelly Mayo brought their inhibin subunit probes to my lab and what followed were several exciting years of discussion, experiments, and papers that Teresa spearheaded. She has continued in this mode, collaborating with Jennie Mather, Dick Stouffer, Felice Petraglia, Marty Matzuk, Tony Plant, Bill Crowley, and Kelly Mayo, who is now her colleague.

Her interest in collaboration stems partly from a commitment to application of basic science to clinical problems. She has published several papers on the regulation of activin and follistatin during human pregnancy, relating serum activin-A levels to parturition. Additionally, she has initiated studies of the relation of serum inhibin levels to survival of women with epithelial ovarian carcinoma.

Teresa received the Cornelia Post Channing Memorial Award at the Ovarian Workshop in 1988 for a paper entitled "Modulation of Rat Inhibin mRNAs in Preovulatory and Atretic Follicles."

In spite of her busy research and teaching schedule, she organized the "North American Inhibin and Activin Congress" in 1999. This symposium was held at Northwestern University’s Evanston campus. Not only did she construct the formal program, but she also planned a social program including a gala dinner. She personally tested the food for the dinner, revealing unexpected skills as a gourmet, and, since she also designed the table flowers, as a horticulturist.

In addition to her successful teaching and research, Teresa is a volunteer in a tutoring program for underprivileged children in Chicago called "Partners in Education." Teresa also plays the cello. Yo-Yo Ma recently appeared in a chamber music series at Northwestern’s School of Music, and Teresa played for him on his own cello.

Teresa Woodruff has already established herself as a major player in the field of ovarian peptides. We expect that she will continue on this trajectory, while continuing to express other sides of herself in her personal life.

Neena B. Schwartz

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