Dr. Sharon Oberfield Named President-Elect of the Pediatric Endocrine Society
Sharon E. Oberfield, MD, Professor of Pediatrics and Director of Pediatric Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, has been elected to lead the Pediatric Endocrine Society (PES). Dr. Oberfield will begin her year-long term as president-elect at the society’s annual meeting in April 2020. The following year she will serve as PES president, and as past-president during her final year, which will coincide with a celebration of PES’s 50th anniversary in 2022.
The Pediatric Endocrine Society (known as Lawson Wilkins Pediatric Endocrine Society from its beginnings in 1972 until 2010), has more than 1,300 national and international members who are dedicated to research and treatment of children with reproductive, bone, thyroid, obesity, growth, pituitary, adrenal disorders, and diabetes. The society provides educational resources to patients and families and serves as a clearinghouse of information for professionals and trainees.
Dr. Oberfield has a longstanding commitment of service to and leadership of LWPES(PES). Elected a member in 1980 she has, over the years, served on numerous committees and councils, and has held other positions of leadership in the organization. Dr. Oberfield was an elected PES director from 1998-2001 and a member of the LWPES Development Committee (2003-2006). She co-chaired the LWPES/ESPE CAH Consensus Statement Meeting 2002 and was involved in its 2018 update. She has chaired multiple national and international sessions at SPR/PES and ESPE meetings.
Since 2005 she has been the PI/director of the NIH/NIDDK-funded T32 training grant in pediatric endocrinology. Further, until three years ago Dr. Oberfield was program director of Columbia’s ACGME fellowship in pediatric endocrinology (and is now associate program director). Consistent with her strong dedication to the training of future generations of pediatric endocrinologists, Dr. Oberfield was the chair of the Program Directors Committee (PES) from 2005-2008 and worked closely with the ABP.
“Today, when delivery of health care and research related to children and adolescents is being dramatically eroded, my goals as president-elect are to maintain and expand the relevance of the bench, translational, and clinical researcher, as well as the importance of the practicing pediatric endocrinologist in PES,” says Dr. Oberfield. “As such, I hope to foster relationships with our sister and international societies and initiate programs to attract more medical students and residents to pediatric endocrinology at critical stages in their careers. Finally, I aim to reevaluate the goals of our fellowship training and champion the endocrine health and well-being of all our children and adolescents on a local, national, and international level.”
Dr. Oberfield’s clinical research has focused on disorders of adrenal hormone synthesis, adrenarche, and PCOS. She has conducted studies of obesity, insulin resistance, and body composition in children and adolescents (currently funded by government and foundation grants). Her work has resulted in more than 225 peer-reviewed publications and reviews, chapters, and editorials.
She currently sits on the PES Communication Committee and is an Associate Editor of the PES journal, Hormone Research in Pediatrics. Dr. Oberfield is a member and leader of numerous other national and international societies including the Endocrine Society, European Society for Paediatric Endocrinology (ESPE), Androgen Excess and PCOS Society (AEPCOS), Pediatric Academic Society, and American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR).
