This volume provides comprehensive coverage of the current knowledge of the physiology of the endocrine system and hormone synthesis and release, transport, and action at the molecular and cellular levels. It presents essential as well as in-depth information of value to both medical students and specialists in Endocrinology, Gynecology, Pediatrics, and Internal Medicine. Although it is well established that the endocrine system regulates essential functions involved in growth, reproduction, and homeostasis, it is increasingly being recognized that this complex regulatory system comprises not only hormones secreted by the classic endocrine glands but also hormones and regulatory factors produced by many organs, and involves extensive crosstalk with the neural and immune system. At the same time, our knowledge of the molecular basis of hormone action has greatly improved. Understanding this complexity of endocrine physiology is crucial to prevent endocrine disorders, to improve the sensitivity of our diagnostic tools, and to provide the rationale for pharmacological, immunological, or genetic interventions. It is such understanding that this book is designed to foster.
Antonino Belfiore is Professor of Endocrinology and Head of the Endocrine Unit at the University of Catanzaro, Italy. He obtained his MD degree at the University of Catania, Italy, and graduated in Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases (University of Catania) and Nuclear Medicine (University of Padoa). He completed a PhD in Endocrine and Metabolic Sciences (University of Naples) and has been visiting research fellow at the University College of London, Clinical Immunology Department, and at the University of San Francisco, Diabetes Research Branch. Dr. Belfiore was Assistant Professor in Endocrinology at the University of Catania from 1986 to 1998, and Associate Professor of Endocrinology at the University of Catanzaro from 1998 to 2006. He has a longstanding interest in the epidemiology, clinical aspects, and biology of thyroid diseases and in endocrine-related tumors. He is head of the Endocrinology research lab at the University of Catanzaro, and the current main interests
of his research group concern the study of IGF system dysregulation in human cancer, with a particular focus on the role of the insulin receptor, its isoforms, and molecular modulators of these receptors in cancer.
Derek LeRoith is Professor of Endocrinology at the Clinical Research Institute at Rambam (CRIR), Haifa, Israel, where he is Director of the Diabetes and Metabolism Clinical Research Center of Excellence, Rambam Health Care Campus. Before joining CRIR in 2010, he was Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Bone Disease at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, and Chief of the Diabetes Branch at the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. He has published over 500 original research papers, reviews, and editorials and edited a number of books on diabetes and IGF-related topics.
