Organising Committee
Mirjam Christ-Crain: Chair of the Education Committee, 2020-2024
Mirjam Christ-Crain: Chair of the Education Committee, 2020-2024
Mirjam Christ-Crain is full Professor of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism at the University of Basel and the University Hospital of Basel, Switzerland. She studied medicine in Basel and Vienna and did her MD in the year 2000 at the University of Basel and her PhD 2007 at the University of London followed by her habilitation at the University of Basel in 2007. From 2009 to 2015 she had a research professorship of the Swiss National Science Foundation. Her main research interest is on vasopressin-dependent disorders of fluid homeostasis, i.e. diabetes insipidus and hyponatremia. She authored and co-authored more than 200 publications including high-ranked publications in the New England Journal of Medicine and The Lancet and received several honours and awards for her research, most recently the European Journal of Endocrinology Award 2019. Since 2013 she is Deputy Chief at the Clinic for Endocrinology, University Hospital Basel and since 2014 she is Head of the Department of Clinical Research at the University of Basel.
Mark Gurnell (UK)
Mark Gurnell (UK)
Mark Gurnell is Professor of Clinical Endocrinology in Cambridge, where he leads endocrine specialist services. He is also SubDean in the University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine, and Head of Undergraduate Assessment. His clinical and research interests are focussed on pituitary, adrenal and thyroid disorders, with particular interests in acromegaly, TSH-secreting pituitary adenomas and primary aldosteronism. As head of the Cambridge Endocrine Molecular Imaging Group (CEMIG), he has led the development of novel techniques for functional imaging and has overseen the introduction of national specialist PET services for pituitary and adrenal disorders. He is also recognised as an expert in the management of patients with unusual thyroid function tests. He currently serves on the Council of the UK Society for Endocrinology (as Treasurer-elect), the Education Committee of the European Society of Endocrinology, the Endocrine Society’s ESAP panel, and the Royal College of Physicians (UK) Specialty Certificate Examinations Board (Endocrinology & Diabetes). He holds a number of senior appointments in medical education and chairs the the Board of the UK Medical Schools Council Assessment Alliance.
Bas Havekes (Netherlands)
Bas Havekes (Netherlands)
Dr. B. Havekes studied Medicine at Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands and graduated in 2000 (cum laude). From 2001 to 2007 he was trained in general Internal Medicine and Endocrinology at the Leiden University Medical Center. In 2008 he obtained a PhD in rare neuroendocrine tumors called ‘paragangliomas’, a substantial part of the research leading to his dissertation was performed at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States. Since 2009 he is an internist-endocrinologist and Chair of subspecialty training in Endocrinology, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Maastricht University Medical Center at the Maastricht University Medical Center where patient care, teaching and clinical research are closely interconnected. Optimal translational research necessitates a multidisciplinary approach in which clinicians and pre-clinical scientists work together. Therefore, a close collaboration between our Endocrinology Department at the hospital and the Diabetes and Metabolism Research Group was instituted.
Heide Siggelkow (Germany)
Heide Siggelkow (Germany)
Prof. Dr. Heide Siggelkow is associate professor for Endocrinology at the Clinic of Gastroenterology, Gastrointestinal Oncology and Endocrinology, Head of the Working Group of Molecular Endocrinology and Osteology at the University Medical Center, Göttingen and Medical Director of the MVZ Endokrinologikum. She works in an outpatient clinic for endocrine or metabolic bone diseases including osteoporosis, hypoparathyroidism, hyperparathyroidism and rare bone diseases. Between 2011 and 2015, she was head of the Association of German Language Societies in the special Field of Osteology (DVO). In this position, she initiated and supported the development of the Osteologic Research Centers DVO. She has been president of the German Society of Osteology (DGO) from 2017–2019. In 2017, the Intensive Course for Clinical Endocrinology of the German Society of Endocrinology (DGE) took place in Göttingen under her leadership, and in 2019 she hosted the yearly congress of the society DGE in Göttingen. Since 2018, she has been spokesperson of the German network of rare bone diseases, “Netzwerk für seltene Osteopathien NetsOs”. 2017-2020 she was member of the European Calcified Tissue Society (ECTS) Website and Social Media Action Group, since 2021 she joined the ECTS Action group of Rare Bone Diseases. Since 2020 she is member of the ESE Education committee and representative in the PARAT programme of the European Society of Endocrinology (ECE). Her basic scientific work focuses on molecular and metabolic mechanisms important for the interplay between fat and bone in primary and secondary forms of osteoporosis, with a special focus on cortisol and bone. Another main topic was the investigation of mechanisms of osteoporosis in chronic inflammatory bowel diseases. Her clinical research is now concentrated on secondary forms of osteoporosis and on hypoparathyroidism with a special focus on quality of life.
Gerald Raverot (France)
Gerald Raverot (France)
Dr. Raverot is Professor in Endocrinology at Lyon 1 University and is chief of the Reference Center of Rare Pituitary Disease and the Endocrine Department at Hospices Civils of Lyon. He leads a research team dedicated to “Pathophysiology of pituitary tumors” at the INSERM Research Center. He coordinated the European Society of Endocrinology guidelines on aggressive pituitary tumors and carcinoma. His major research interests are pituitary tumor pathogenesis and identification of prognosis markers allowing the development of potential new therapies. He served on boards of the French Society of Endocrinology, the Endocrine Society, and the European Society of Endocrinology, and has been elected to the European Neuroendocrine Association executive committee.
Mark Sherlock (Ireland)
Mark Sherlock (Ireland)
Professor Mark Sherlock received his Specialist Endocrine training initially in Beaumont Hospital. Following this he spent five years on Endocrinology Fellowship in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham and University of Birmingham. During this time he developed expertise in a broad spectrum of Endocrinology and in particular pituitary, adrenal and thyroid disorders. His expertise is in Pituitary and Adrenal disease, Salt and water homeostasis and Thyroid and Parathyroid disease. Professor Sherlock’s main clinical and research interests are in all areas of Pituitary and Adrenal disease, Salt and Water homeostasis and Thyroid disease.
Lina Zabuliene (Lithuania)
Lina Zabuliene (Lithuania)
Assoc. Prof. Lina Zabuliene is a graduate of the Faculty of Medicine at Vilnius University and has over 20 years of clinical practice experience as a consultant endocrinologist, as well as academic and expert activities at the Faculty of Medicine. Additionally, she has 9 years of experience in leadership, administration, and organization. She holds positions on the Medicine Study Programme Committee and the Vilnius Regional Biomedical Research Ethics Committee. Dr. Zabuliene is actively involved in national and international professional organizations and societies. She serves as the Executive Secretary of the Vilnius Medical Society, the Lithuanian representative and a member of the Council of the Endocrinology Section of the European Society of Medical Specialists (UEMS), and a former member of the Council of the Lithuanian Society of Endocrinologists for six years. In 2021, she was elected to a four-year term (2021-2025) as a member of the Educational Committee at the European Society of Endocrinology. She is a member of the Lithuanian Society of Endocrinologists, the Lithuanian Society of Morphologists, the European Endocrinological Society, the Central European Diabetes Society, the International Society of Gynecological Endocrinology, and the Androgen Excess and Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Society. She also serves as an Associate Editor of the Endocrinology section of Annals of Medicine, and a member of the Editorial Board of JCEM Case Reports and Endokrynologia Polska. Her main research and clinical interests include reproductive endocrinology, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), diabetes, and thyroid and iodine status. She regularly speaks at national and international conferences and postgraduate training programs, and is the lead author or co-author of more than 60 scientific and popular science articles published in Lithuanian and international peer-reviewed journals and books. Dr. Zabuliene has received numerous awards and acknowledgments for her professional work. In 2019, she received the Mayor of Vilnius Golden Heart Award on the occasion of World Health Day, and was also nominated for Doctor of the Year. In 2020, she received the Award of the Minister of Health for her contribution to the health of the Lithuanian people. Additionally, at the end of 2020, she was voted by medical students as the “Best lecturer of 2020” at the Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University.
Tatjana Milenkovic (North Macedonia)
Tatjana Milenkovic (North Macedonia)
Tatjana Milenkovic is a Professor of internal medicine at the University “St Cyril and Methodius”, Medical Faculty in Skopje, Macedonia. She works at the Clinic of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases since 1985, where in 1995 she has established the Department of education of people with diabetes - and she has been Head of the department ever since. She completed her specialty training in Internal Medicine 1991, a PhD in Medical Science in 1999, and sub speciality training in Endocrinology in 2004. She has significantly improved her working experience and skills in the UK, Denmark and Italy. She is a member of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD), American Diabetes Association (ADA) and a President of the Diabetes Education Study Group (DESG). She is the President of Macedonian Diabetes Association, since 2013, the President of the Macedonian Scientific Association of endocrinologists and diabetologists since 2014, member of IDF Europe board 2020/2023, reelected 2023/2025. She is a member of ESE (European Society of Endocrinology) educational committee 2021-2025. Prof Milenkovikj is engaged in education for patients and families with diabetes and also in designing and implementing a program for certification of diabetes educators in Macedonia. She was an invited lecturer at EASD Postgraduate Courses, IDF Congresses and other national and international conferences.
Walter Vena (Italy)
Walter Vena (Italy)
Currently Dr. Walter Vena works at the Unit of Endocrinology, Diabetology and Medical Andrology of the Humanitas Clinical and Research Hospital, based in Milan, Italy. His main fields of clinical research are male hypogonadism, reproductive disorders and sexual dysfunctions as well as bone metabolism disorders in the male population.
Maeve Durkan (Ireland)
Maeve Durkan (Ireland)
Dr Durkan is an RCSI graduate ,with post graduate and sub specialty Diabetes & Endocrinology training in the UK . Thereafter she completed second residency in Internal Medicine at Yale University School of Medicine, USA and subsequently a fellowship in Diabetes, Endocrinology & Metabolism at Brown University School of Medicine, USA. She is a Diplomat of the American Board of Internal Medicine, a Diplomat of the American Board of Diabetes, Endocrinology & Metabolism and a Fellow of the American College of Physicians. She was awarded a Masters in Clinical Education NUI Galway in 2012. She is a consultant Endocrinologist , in the BSH Cork and a Senior Clinical Lecturer in Medicine in UCC School of Medicine,' . She also lectures for the UCC School of Pharmacy , She is involved clinical research , presenting annually at both the American Diabetes & American Endocrine International scientific meetings. She has just had two papers accepted for oral presentation at the IFSO ( International Federation for the Surgery of Obesity & Metabolic Disorders) annual scientific meeting in Miami, USA this year . She is an Internal Examiner for the MD Thesis Program at NUI Galway, and a peer reviewer for the Irish Journal of Medical Science.' She is President of UEMS (European Union Committee for Medical Specialties), Board of Endocrinology. She was appointed to the UEMS Examination committee to progress the European Board Exam in Endocrinology in partnership with the ESE (European Society for Endocrinology) with the first specialty exam ( EBEEDM) delivered in June 2018. She is co-author of the UEMS ETR (European Training Requirement) in Diabetes & Endocrinology that was ratified at the UEMS Council meeting in 2017. She is the current Vice Chair of UEMS CESMA (Council for European Specialists Medical assessments), having been appointed to the CESMA European examination appraisals subcommittee in 2016. She is the former Chair of the Diabetes division of the Irish Endocrine Society She was Co – Chair of the National Committee R3i (Residual Risk Reduction) Ireland and is now part of a working national lipid network group currently establish a National Lipid Screening Program.