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Big data, genome discoveries take center stage at Endocrine Society annual meeting
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The latest developments in big data, artificial intelligence and human genome research will share the spotlight at the Endocrine Society’s 101st Annual Meeting & Expo, as organizers this year worked to blend cutting-edge science with the latest updates in hormone health and clinical care.
ENDO 2019 will bring approximately 7,500 society members to the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans from March 23 to 26 to hear from global experts in the field and connect with peers. This year’s schedule includes more than 300 sessions in 24 tracks and more than 2,000 posters over 4 days, along with special symposia, debates and popular “meet the experts” opportunities.
“ENDO 2019 is different from other endocrine meetings in providing a rich mix of clinical practice, clinical translational research and basic science research, with attractive basic science pathways tied to discrete themes,” Ghada El-Hajj Fuleihan, MD, MPH, FRCP, a professor of medicine at American University of Beirut and clinical science chair of ENDO 2019, told Endocrine Today. “Novel, exciting sessions this year include artificial intelligence and digital health, the year in health care delivery, sessions for thyroid and osteoporosis and the new scientific literacy sessions. This is in addition to a rich mix of stellar plenary sessions.”
Meeting chair Gregory A. Brent, MD, professor of medicine and physiology in the division of endocrinology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, said the interface of the basic science, clinical science and clinician communities help to set ENDO apart from other meetings.
“Although we do have tracks and programming for each group, which intersect at the plenaries, we really want cross-fertilization, and that is why people come,” Brent told Endocrine Today. “For example, this year we are conducting ‘Meet the Scientists’ sessions oriented toward clinicians to address topics like genetic diseases. We’re piloting that interface. Certainly, many of the basic scientists like to come to the translation sessions to better understand the context for their work. That is a unique feature of the meeting.”
Some of this year’s meeting highlights include the following:
Plenary sessions: This year’s presidential plenary, “Whole Genome Approaches to Unraveling Diseases,” presented by NIH Director Francis S. Collins, MD, PhD, will examine the current role and future direction of genomics in biomedical research, with a special emphasis on endocrine and metabolic diseases. The session takes place Saturday, March 23. “[Collins] headed up the Human Genome Project and will talk about using human genome data for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases,” Brent said. “He has a long career interest in the human ethical implications of genome data, and he will be conducting a Q&A with the audience about that.” Other plenary topics include utilizing big data in science and clinical care, gene editing and stem cells, novel therapeutic targets in metabolic disease and cancer, and targeting senescent cells in aging and disease.
Science Pathways: The popular “Science Pathways” sessions have been enhanced this year to include more focused discussions and networking opportunities in a “meeting within a meeting” concept, El Hajj-Fuleihan said. This year’s science pathways, running throughout the meeting, are focused on neuroendocrinology, nuclear receptors and gene regulation, and reproductive endocrinology.
Guideline deep dives: This year’s meeting will include presentations for four new clinical practice guidelines, including the treatment of diabetes in older adults, the pharmacological management of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women, hypothalamic-pituitary and growth disorders in survivors of childhood cancer, and congenital adrenal hyperplasia due to steroid 21-hydroxylase deficiency. Guidelines will be presented in a case-based format, El Hajj-Fuleihan said, with members of the respective guideline committees serving as panelists.
Bioinformatics Workshop: A new scientific event, Bioinformatics Workshop, will provide attendees with an in-depth look into data repositories, resources and tools available to build high-quality networks to enable network analysis. “That is a pre-meeting session primarily geared toward basic and clinical sciences,” Brent said. “The workshop is designed to equip investigators to utilize the latest tools of bioinformatics.”
For early-career attendees, the ENDO Career Center, located at booth #835 in the ENDO Expo Hall, will offer informal “career meet-ups” with principal investigators and program directors to learn more about research opportunities at their institutions, El Hajj-Fuleihan said. Senior faculty members will be available at meet-up tables in the Career Center during specified hours.
“The Endocrine Society is very active in engaging young trainees, and each year we offer the ENDO career development workshop in the career center,” El Hajj-Fuleihan said. “Attendees can meet job recruiters and learn about opportunities. Navigating the program will hopefully be easy. The ENDO app will also help attendees to navigate poster sessions.”
The Endocrine Today and Healio.com staff will provide coverage from ENDO 2019, including reports on the sessions described above and others, on-site video interviews and much more. For more information on the ENDO agenda and registration, visit www.endocrine.org/endo-2019. – by Regina Schaffer
Disclosures: Brent and El-Hajj Fuleihan report no relevant financial disclosures.