Society Leadership Meets with NIH Institute Directors

The Society leadership, including President Margaret Shupnik, PhD, and Vice Presidents Henry Kronenberg, MD, and Lynette Nieman, MD, had the opportunity to discuss topics of mutual interest with National Institutes of Health (NIH) directors on April 21, 2008 and May 21, 2008. 

The delegation, which also included Society staff members Janet Kreizman, senior director of government and public affairs, and Stephanie Kutler, associate director of government and professional affairs, met with Dr. Stephen Katz, director of National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS); Dr. Duane Alexander, director of The Eunice Kennedy Shiver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD); and Dr. Griffin Rodgers, Director of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). 

During the meetings, the delegation discussed a number of initiatives ongoing at the Society, including the clinical guidelines program, ENDO programming, the White Paper on Increasing Minority Participation in Clinical Research, and the Society's advocacy priorities.

In an effort to increase awareness of specific Society initiatives among the Institute directors, the Society leadership provided information on the upcoming Clinical Research Regulatory Workshop, which will be hosted by the Society and Lawson Wilkins Pediatric Endocrine Society in November in Washington, D.C. The directors were supportive of this initiative and shared the Society's concerns with the increasing regulatory burdens that face clinical research. 

Finally, the group discussed the Society's efforts to examine and review the current state of knowledge on endocrine disruptors and to produce a report that the Society could use as the foundation for policy and position decisions. Dr. Alexander also expressed his thanks for the Society's support for the National Children's Study, and requested that Society members provide feedback on the study plan. Additional information on the National Children's Study may be found at www.nationalchildrensstudy.gov