Liisa Galea
University of British Columbia, Canada

Topic: Sex hormones and behaviour

Liisa Galea is a Professor in Psychology, affiliated member in Psychiatry, member of the Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, and is a Scientific Advisor at Women’s Health Research Institute at the University of British Columbia. She is the lead for the Women’s Health Research Cluster at UBC.The main goal of her research is to improve brain health for women and men by examining the influence of sex and sex hormones on normal and diseased brain states such as depression and Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Galea is a Distinguished University Scholar, twice winner of the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery Accelerator, and a community engagement award (Vancouver YWCA Women of Distinction award). Liisa sits on the advisory board of Institute of Gender and Health at Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR). She was recognized as a Fellow at International Behavioral Neuroscience Society (IBNS) and the Kavli Foundation. Dr. Galea is the chief editor of FiN (Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology, IF =9.059) and the President-elect of Organization for the Study of Sex Differences. She serves committees/boards, including committees for equity diversity and inclusion for Institute of Mental Health (UBC), Steroids and Nervous System (Italy), Canadian Organisation for Sex and Gender Research(COGS), International Behavioral Neuroscience Society (IBNS), Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology (SBN), and Canadian Association of Neuroscience (CAN).

Mortyn Jones Lecture
Sponsored by: BSN

Dave Grattan
University of Otago, New Zealand

Topic: Prolactin and behaviour

Professor Dave Grattan is the Director of the Centre for Neuroendocrinology at the University of Otago, in New Zealand. He has been involved in neuroendocrinology research for over 30 years, with a focus on the hormone prolactin and the contribution it makes to supporting adaptations in the maternal brain during pregnancy. From 2009-2014, he served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Neuroendocrinology, and was Chair of the Organising Committee for the 8th ICN in Sydney, Australia, 2014. He is currently an Associate Editor for Endocrinology and chair of the FASEB Meeting on Growth hormone/Prolactin.

HNNA lecture
Sponsored by: HNNA (Hypothalamic Neuroscience and Neuroendocrinology Australasia)

Hitoshi Ozawa
Nippon Medical School, Japan

Topic: Anatomy/Physiology of Kisspeptin and HPG axis     

Hitoshi Ozawa received his MD from Jikei University (Tokyo) and his PhD from Gunma University in 1990.

He then joined Drs. Tixier-Vidal and Claude Tougard in Collège de France (Paris) as a postdoctoral fellow. After that, he worked in the Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine as an Associate Professor in Prof. Mike Kawata’s group. He is currently a Professor at the Department of Neuroanatomy, Nippon Medical School (Tokyo). He has a broad background in the field of the hypothalamo-pituitary system, particularly reproductive neuroendocrinology. He has published more than 100 articles. He has undertaken additional work in many journals, such as J. Neuroendocrinology, Endocrinology, Histochemistry and Cell Biology. Prof. Ozawa is currently the president of the Japanese Neuroendocrine Society and the Japanese Society of Histochemistry and Cytochemistry.

JNS lecture
Sponsored by: JNS (Japanese Neuroendocrine Society)

Mike Ludwig
University of Edinburgh, UK

Olfactory and visual delights of vasopressin

Professor Mike Ludwig is a basic scientist interested in mechanisms and behavioural consequences of neuropeptide release from nerve cells. He graduated in Biology and then received a PhD in Neuroscience at the University of Leipzig, Germany. After two years postdoctoral research as a NIH/Fogarty International Fellow in the US he came to Edinburgh. Professor Ludwig continued his research under a German Career Development Fellowship and a Wellcome Trust Grant before joining the staff of the University of Edinburgh as Lecturer in 2001.

Ursula B. Kaiser

Harvard Medical School, USA

Insights into the development of the neural pathways regulating fertility from studies of central precocious puberty

Ursula Kaiser is Chief, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Hypertension and George W. Thorn, MD Distinguished Chair in Endocrinology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and Director of the Brigham Research Institute. Before arriving at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, she received her medical degree and completed her clinical residency in Internal Medicine and fellowship in Endocrinology at University of Toronto Medical School. Dr. Kaiser has an active research program focused on the genetic and molecular mechanisms underlying the neuroendocrine regulation of puberty and reproduction. Her clinical interests focus on neuroendocrinology and reproductive endocrinology.

Her research has received continuous NIH support for more than twenty-five years.  She also serves as Program Director of the NIH-funded Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women’s Health (BIRCWH) K12 program to train junior faculty in women’s health research, and the Principal Investigator of an NIH T32 training grant to train physicians and scientists in academic endocrinology. Dr. Kaiser is also an active clinician, focusing on neuroendocrinology and reproductive endocrinology. She has successfully mentored over 40 students, fellows and other trainees, many of whom have gone on to independent academic faculty positions. She is the recipient of A. Clifford Barger Excellence in Mentoring Award at Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Kaiser is a member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians, is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, and a member of the Board of Scientific Counselors for the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. She is the recipient of the Ernst Oppenheimer Award and the Sidney H. Ingbar Award of the Endocrine Society and is President-Elect of the Endocrine Society. 

Pan American Neuroendocrine Society (PANS) Lecture

Gareth Leng
University of Edinburgh, UK

Topic: History of Neuroendocrinology

Gareth Leng’s career in Neuroendocrinology began in 1977 with his appointment as project leader at the Babraham Institute. In 1974, he moved to Edinburgh University as Chair of Experimental Physiology until his retirement in 2020. He has published more than 300 academic articles and two books (‘The Heart of the Brain’ in 2018; and, with his son Rhodri, ‘The Matter of Facts’ in 2020). He is a former Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Neuroendocrinology and a former President of the INF. He is an Honorary Member of the BSN in recognition of his role in founding that Society.

History of Neuroendocrinology Lecture
Sponsored by: INF

Giles Yeo
University of Cambridge, UK

Topic: Genes, diet and obesity

Giles Yeo got his PhD from the University of Cambridge in 1998, after which he joined the lab of Prof Sir Stephen O’Rahilly, working on the genetics of severe human obesity. Giles is now a programme leader at the MRC Metabolic Diseases Unit in Cambridge, focusing on the influence of genes on feeding behaviour & body-weight. In addition, he is Honorary President of the British Dietetic Association, and a broadcaster and author. Giles was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to ‘Research and Communication and Engagement’ in the Queen’s 2020 birthday honours.

Inaugral Wylie Vale Public lecture

Rae Silver
Columbia University in the City of New York, USA

Topic: Circadian clocks 

Rae Silver is the Helene L. and Mark N. Kaplan Professor of Natural & Physical Sciences and head of the Silver Neurobiology Laboratory. She is been a member of the faculty at Columbia University and at Barnard College and has taught courses in Quantitative Reasoning, Neuroscience, and Psychology. Her research areas focus on circadian rhythms and their neural bases, and on neuro-vascular-immune system signalling systems in the brain. Her work is described in >200 scientific publications and has been supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institutes of Mental Health, and National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and the Office of Naval Research. Over her career, Silver has held many positions on committees in service to the educational, scientific and research communities, and the Barnard and Columbia communities. She has been the USA Representative to and Chair and Vice-chair on the Council of Scientists for the Human Frontiers Science Program and a member of the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine Forum on Neuroscience. Her work as Senior Advisor at the NSF helped create a series of workshops to examine opportunities for the next decade in Neuroscience through the joint efforts of biologists, chemists, educators, mathematicians, physicists, psychologists and statisticians. She served as co-chair of the NASA committee that prioritized biological research for the International Space Station. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Reflecting her research and leadership roles, Rae is past president of the Society for Research in Biological Rhythms and of the Society for Behavioral Neuroscience, among her service roles. Breaking her penchant for privacy, she and her students engaged in an interview about her life and work in a commentary and photos published in the European Journal of Neuroscience.
Link to “Profiles of Women in Science: Rae Silver”

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ejn.14604?af=R

Geoffrey Harris Lecture
Sponsored by: International Neuroendocrine Federation, INF

Sebastien G. Bouret
University of Lille, France

Topic: Early life origins of obesity and diabetes

Sebastien Bouret received a Ph.D. in neuroscience from the university of Lille (France) in 2001. He subsequently joined the laboratory of Dr. Richard Simerly in the Department of Neuroscience at the Oregon Health and Science University where he did his postdoctoral work. He is currently a Research Director at the French National Institute of Health (Inserm) in Lille, France. Dr. Bouret has a broad background in the field of metabolic programming and the neurobiology of obesity. He has published more than 90 articles, reviews, and book chapters in the field of developmental programming. Dr. Bouret’s research has directly led to several breakthroughs in the understanding of the complex hormonal signals and neurodevelopmental substrates responsible for appetite regulation. Dr. Bouret has served on numerous journal editorial boards (including Journal of Neuroendocrinology, Endocrinology, Molecular Metabolism, Metabolism, JCI Insight), organizing committees and grant review panels (including the NIH) and has been invited to lecture internationally.

Jacques Benoit Lecture
Sponsored by: SNE