Dr. Shlomo Melmed awarded 9th Endocrine Regulation Prize of the Fondation Ipsen

The international jury under the presidency of Professor Iain Robinson (National Institute for Medical Research, London, UK) awarded today the 9^th Endocrine Regulation Prize of the Fondation Ipsen (20.000€) to Dr. Shlomo Melmed (Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, USA) during the annual congress of the ENEA (European NeuroEndocrine Association) in Liège (Belgium), for his translational approach to endocrinology. Shlomo Melmed is an internationally recognized endocrinologist and an authority on pituitary medicine. He pioneered the discovery and application of novel treatments for pituitary tumors which account for 15% of intracranial tumors.

The pituitary gland located at the base of the brain is considered to be the "master gland" as it secretes some of the most important hormones of the body, including the growth hormone (GH). The most common disease of GH excess is a pituitary tumor. In this matter, Dr. Melmed's research is primarily focused on the study of mutations involved in some hereditary adenomas, the hormonal regulation of cell cycle and the effect of growth factors on anterior pituitary function. He is strongly involved in the discovery and application of new therapies targeting the molecular mechanisms linked to the endocrine neoplasms. Dr. Melmed's lab has been consistently funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) from 1980-2013. He played a major role in leading the growth of research and educational programs at Cedars-Sinai, which is now one of the top-tier non-university academic medical centers of the USA.

He received his medical degree from the University of Cape Town, School of Medicine in 1970. At Cedars-Sinai since 1980, he is now Senior Vice-President for Academic Affairs, and Dean of the Medical Faculty. He is also Professor and Associate Dean of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Medicine. Dr. Melmed is a Diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine, certified in Endocrinology & Metabolism; a fellow of the American College of Physicians (ACP) and elected to Master of the ACP; an elected member of the Association of American Physicians and the American Society of Clinical Investigation; recipient of the Endocrinology Medal of the Royal Society of Medicine; Endocrine Society Clinical Investigator Award; the Society of Endocrinology Transatlantic Medal; the Pituitary Society's Lifetime Achievement Awards; and is listed in BEST Doctors of America. Dr. Melmed is acknowledged as a plenary speaker at multiple international meetings and is the author of over 300 peer-reviewed articles in prestigious publications. He has trained over 60 physicians, scientists and graduate students who occupy leading positions in academic endocrinology worldwide.

The Endocrine Regulation Prize

Created in 2002, this Prize of the Fondation Ipsen has been awarded to the renowned specialists Wylie VALE (2002), Robert LEFKOWITZ (2003), Pierre CHAMBON (2004), Thomas HöKFELT (2005) and Roger CONE (2006), William CROWLEY (2007), Ronald EVANS (2008) and Gilbert VASSART (2009). The members of the jury are: Iain ROBINSON (National Institute for Medical Research, London, UK), President, Xavier BERTAGNA (Hôpital Cochin, Paris, France), Felipe CASANUEVA (University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain), Michael CONN (ORPC, Beaverton, USA), Alain ENJALBERT (UMR 6231 CNRS-Universités Aix Marseille II et III, Marseille, France), Rolf GAILLARD (Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, Lausanne, Switzerland), Ezio GHIGO (Ospedale Molinette, Turin, Italy), Ilpo HUHTANIEMI (Imperial College Faculty of Medicine, London, UK), Paul KELLY (Faculté de Médecine Necker Enfants Malades, Paris, France), Steven LAMBERTS (Erasmus University, Rotterdam, the Netherlands), Stafford LIGHTMAN (University of Bristol, Bristol, UK), Günter STALLA (Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, München, Germany) and Robert STEINER (University of Washington, Seattle, USA)