Endocrine Insider
December 13, 2007

Approximately 20 reporters from major international news outlets and syndicated news services gathered in Washington, D.C., on December 7 for The Endocrine Society’s Hormones through Life Science Writers Conference. The event, held at the historic Hay-Adams Hotel, presented a wealth of new and established data on the intricate connections between hormones and health during specific stages of a person’s life – from prenatal through senior adult.

For the conference, the Society assembled a panel of leading physicians and researchers, with the purposes of building relationships with key health, medical, and science writers, and raising awareness of the endocrine system and its impact on overall health. The conference also positioned The Endocrine Society as the knowledge source for the media on the science and treatment of endocrine conditions.

The conference began with welcoming remarks from Society Past-president Dr. Chip Ridgway, who is currently chair of the Advocacy and Public Outreach Core Committee (APOCC). Dr. Ridgway told the assembled reporters that the day would be a rewarding, entertaining, and informative event that would offer unique insights into human health and the remarkable impact that hormones have on our well-being. He then introduced Society President Dr. Peggy Shupnik who gave a brief overview of The Endocrine Society, its goal of informing reporters about the latest in endocrine research, and the spectrum of research and clinician practice encompassed by the Society.

APOCC member Dr. Henry Anhalt served as moderator and explained the overarching theme for the conference. Each presenter focused on a different stage of life and reviewed both the state of the science in endocrinology for that particular age group and the latest research on specific endocrine-related disorders. Throughout the conference, various embargoed news releases on the latest research accepted for publication in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism were presented to the journalists.

The presentations were ordered according to life stage, and the speakers were Drs. Robert Rapaport (perinatal events and low birth weight effects), Silva Arslanian (obesity and its effects on adolescent physiology), Brad Anawalt (effects of natural hormone changes and steroid abuse in teens and twenties), Marc Blackman (dispelling the myth that hormone treatment is a fountain of youth for adults and older people), and Margaret Wierman and Glenn Cunningham (sex hormone treatments in normally aging older women and men, respectively).

Among the news organizations attending the event were two of the most prestigious news syndication companies, the Associated Press and Reuters. With news budgets shrinking, most medium- to smaller-sized papers across the country rely on the Associated Press and Reuters for health coverage, as do many television and radio networks. The Associated Press alone offers news, photos, graphics, audio, and video for 1,700 U.S. newspapers and 6,000 broadcast outlets around the world.

A WebMD story resulting from the conference can be viewed here: http://men.webmd.com/news/20071211/testosterone-for-aging-caution-urged

The content from the conference will be edited and posted on the Society’s website within the next few weeks: http://www.endo-society.org/writers07/index.cfm

Drs. Rapaport, Wierman, Arslanian, and Ridgway at the Society’s Science Writers Conference

Journalists enjoying one of the presentations during the Science Writers Conference