Date: Wednesday 13 December 2023

Programme:

  • Welcome and introduction
    Dr Anne Rochtus (Leuven, Belgium) - ESPE Connect Webinar Assistant Convenor
  • Genetic influences on pubertal timing
    Dr Sasha Howard (London, UK)
  • Environmental impact on pubertal timing
    Dr Anne-Simone Parent (Liège, Belgium)
  • Impact of mini-puberty on fertility
    Prof Anna Nordenström (Stockholm, Sweden)
  • Panel Discussion and Q&A for all talks
    All
  • Webinar Close
    Dr Anne Rochtus

 

Speaker Profiles

Dr Sasha Howard

Dr Sasha Howard is a Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Career Development Fellow and Senior Clinical Lecturer at the Centre for Endocrinology, Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) and Honorary Consultant in Paediatric Endocrinology at Barts Health NHS Trust. Dr Howard’s research is focused on optimising the diagnosis and management of patients with pubertal disorders. Her research investigates the genetic basis of pubertal timing, using next-generation sequencing, comparative transcriptomic and epigenetic investigative approaches to identify novel genetic variants underlying precocious, delayed and disordered puberty. Dr Howard is member of the NIHR / BSPED Clinical Studies Group, the SoE UK Andrology network, the ESPE 2023 POC and Paediatric and Adolescent Gynaecology Working Group, and Co-PI of the Barts Pituitary Centre.

Dr Anne-Simone Parent

Dr Anne-Simone Parent received her medical degree and PhD in Biomedical Science from the University of Liège, Belgium. After a three-year postdoctoral stay in SR Ojeda’s laboratory at Oregon Health and Science University where she studied the molecular determinants of the hypothalamic control of puberty, she became an Associate Researcher at the Belgian National Foundation for Research. Currently, AS Parent is a Professor of Paediatric Endocrinology at the University of Liège, Belgium and a Principal Investigator at GIGA-Neurosciences, University of Liège. Being a paediatric endocrinologist, her studies have always focused on bridging clinical and laboratory research. For the last 15 years, the group has developed models to study the effects of endocrine disrupting chemicals on the central nervous system and focuses on their effects on the hypothalamic control of puberty and reproduction and on hippocampus development. She is the Chair of the Endocrine Society European Union EDC Task Force.

Professor Anna Nordenström

Professor Anna Nordenström is Senior Consultant and Team leader of Pediatric Endocrinology at the Astrid Lindgren Children’s Hospital, Karolinska University Hospital and Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm Sweden. She is responsible for the national neonatal screening program for Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH).

She is Represents Karolinska University Hospital European Reference Network for Rare Endocrine Conditions (Endo-ERN) and is active in the I-DSD and I-CAH Registries and the European Registries for Rare Endocrine Conditions (EuRRECa).

Her research is focused on CAH and disorders of sex development.