Your new ESE President-Elect, Mirjam Christ-Crain, and Executive Committee members, Frederic Castinetti and Marek Ruchala, were elected by an online vote earlier this year and they officially started their term at the Annual General Meeting on 13 May 2025.
Mirjam Christ-Crain, Switzerland - President-Elect
Professor 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.
Since 2013 she has been Deputy Chief at the Clinic for Endocrinology, University Hospital Basel and from 2014 to 2023 also Head of the Department of Clinical Research at the University of Basel. Starting in August 2025 she is appointed to be Chief of the Clinic for Endocrinology at the University Hospital Basel.
In her election statement, Mirjam said:
"Since becoming a member of the European Society of Endocrinology, my primary “professional home”, I have participated in numerous roles, including serving in the Board of Directors as Chair of the Education Committee from 2020-2024, developing the new ESE curriculum and setting up the European exam for Endocrinology. These experiences have allowed me to obtain an in-depth understanding of the many ESE activities and the broad spectrum of expertise among its members.
As President, I will offer my full commitment and enthusiasm to the continuous improvement
of the current educational and research structures, with a focus on innovation in Endocrinology. My priority will be to involve all participating nations including small European countries. As Switzerland is located in the center of Europe, I am an expert on different linguistic and cultural backgrounds (German, French, Italian) and their integration. I strongly believe that we can only advance the field though collaborations, with every voice heard".
Further information about Mirjam Christ-Crain
Frederic Castinetti, France - Chair of the ESE Clinical Committee
Frederic Castinetti is a professor of endocrinology and the Head of the Endocrinology Department in Aix Marseille University, France. He received his PhD in Neuroscience focusing on the roles of transcription factors in combined pituitary hormone deficiencies. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship with Dr Sally Camper at the University of Michigan, where he used transgenic mouse models to study the role of transcription factors in thyrotrophic development and function. He now works on induced pluripotent stem cells differentiated in pituitary cells.
In his election statement, Frederic said:
"I've been a member of the European Society of Endocrinology (ESE) for more than 15 years and have been involved in various activities such as the Rare Diseases Committee (until 2023), the ESE Guidelines on Immunotherapy (2022), and as Clinical Chair of the Scientific Committee of the ESE 2025 meeting. This has convinced me of the importance of ESE and how we can make it work together.
Most of my work has been made possible by strong international collaborations. Working alone in one's own country does not usually allow enough momentum to develop innovative and ambitious projects focusing on unmet needs in endocrine diseases. Recently, I agreed to chair the Main Thematic Group 4 of the European Endocrine Reference Network, with the idea of collaborating to develop ambitious projects in both basic and clinical research. This is a view that I want to share with the members of ESE, the perfect society for this.
Thanks to my experience in creating and developing networks in France and Europe, I will facilitate collaboration, help people develop their projects and potential, and promote the activities of ESE".
Further information about Frederic Castinetti
Marek Ruchala, Poland - Chair of the ESE Publishing and Communications Committee
Marek Ruchala graduated from Poznan University of Medical Sciences in 1988. Since 2011 he has been the head of the Department of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Internal Medicine. He is a specialist in internal medicine, endocrinology and nuclear medicine.
In 2016-2021 he was a President of the Polish Society of Endocrinology. Since 2015 he has served as a chairman of the Medical Sciences Committee of the Poznan Branch of the Polish Academy of Sciences. In 2019, he was elected to the position of the Chancellor for Science and, in 2024, to the Vice-Rector of Poznan University of Medical Sciences. Since 2024, he has been nominated by the Minister of Health to be the National Consultant in Endocrinology.
In his election statement, Marek said:
"I have many years of experience in teamwork. As a member, then the President and Past-President of the Board Polish Society of Endocrinology (PSE), I have been striving for interdisciplinary cooperation within many scientific societies. Since 2024, I have been nominated by the Minister of Health to be the National Consultant in Endocrinology.
An important element of my work was the training of endocrinologists. For almost 20 years, I have been organizing endocrinological schools twice a year that bring together many participants. Well-organized education with practical elements, e.g. thyroid ultrasound school, equips our members with practical skills. I have over 30 years of experience in thyroid ultrasound examination and fine-needle aspiration biopsy.
As a member of European Society of Endocrinology Council of Affiliated Societies, I actively supported all initiatives, including European Hormone Day (subsequently World Hormone Day), an extremely important one providing an opportunity to expand knowledge about endocrinology and influence institutions responsible for health policy in Europe.
As a representative of Central and Eastern Europe within ESE I will act to attract many new active ESE members and on behalf of the former ones from this part of Europe. I would point out that we have already successfully implemented joint scientific and teaching projects.
I believe that interdisciplinarity, that I advocate for, will contribute to greater recognition of our scientific environment. It may as well bring into effect the most innovative methods and achievements from which endocrinology will further benefit".
Further information about Marek Ruchala
In addition to the new Executive Committee members, we also welcome new ex-officio representative:
Juan Jiménez-Vacas, UK - ESE Young Endocrinologists and Scientists (EYES) Committee Co-Chair
Juan Manuel Jiménez Vacas, PhD, is a scientist at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, UK. His research focuses on identifying novel therapeutic strategies and uncovering vulnerabilities in castration-resistant prostate cancer. The goal of his work is to prevent or reverse resistance to hormone therapies currently used in clinical practice.
Further information about Juan Manuel Jiménez Vacas
Congratulations and a warm welcome to all our new Committee members.
Our sincere thanks go to our departing Executive Committee members, Jérôme Bertherat (President-Elect 2021-2023 and President 2023-2025), Philippe Chanson (Chair of the Publishing and Communications Committee and Executive Committee member 2021-2025), Martin Fassnacht (Chair of the Clinical Committee and Executive Committee member 2021-2025) and Walter Vena (Co-Chair ESE Young Endocrinologists and Scientists (EYES) Committee and Executive Committee (ex-officio).
Their commitment to ESE has been unwavering and we look forward to working with them on other ESE initiatives.
A full list of the ESE Executive Committee can be found here.
30/05/2025