Three SAMRC scientists were honoured at the Society for Endocrinology, Metabolism and Diabetes of South Africa (SEMDSA) 55th congress held between 8 -11th September 2022.
Dr’s Julia Goedecke, Amy Mendham and Tarryn Willmer not only represented the SAMRC’s Biomedical and Research Innovation Platform (BRIP) by taking home three awards in this expert field but their success also embodied the theme of the SEMDA congress: Women in Endocrinology.
Chief Specialist Scientist, Dr Julia Goedecke’s paper titled: Waist circumference thresholds predicting incident dysglycaemia and type 2 diabetes in Black African men and women, won the SEMDSA/Claude Leon Diabetes Award for the best original research paper published in the field of diabetes. The paper was published in Diabetes Obesity and Metabolism.
Dr Amy Mendham took away the SEMDSA Diabetes Award for the best original research in diabetes for her paper titled: Targeted proteomics identifies potential biomarkers of dysglycaemia, beta-cell function and insulin sensitivity in Black African men and women which was also accepted in Diabetologia. Dr Mendham is a Post Doc supervised by Dr Goedecke.
BRIP Senior Scientist Dr Tarryn Willmer, received the SEMDSA Scientist Travel award to the value of R40 000, enabling her to attend an international congress. Dr Willmer said “the SEMDSA 2022 congress was a memorable experience. I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to present my work to leaders within the field, and to be a recipient of three prestigious awards”. She was also awarded the Endocrine Publication Award for the best original research in endocrinology for the paper titled: A pilot investigation of genetic and epigenetic variation of FKBP5 and response to exercise intervention in African women with obesity, which was published in Nature Scientific Reports. Dr Willmer completed her hat trick by winning an award for best poster in the basic science category for her poster entitled: A high fat, high sugar diet induces Insulin-like Growth Factor 2 hypermethylation in male Wistar rats.
SEMDSA is a scientific society that aims to further clinical practice; to promote both clinical and scientific research as well as publication into all branches of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Diabetes. The society promotes standards for training and professional practice in the field and promotes access to health care services and adequate treatment for all affected diseases related to Endocrinology, Metabolism and Diabetes.