Five early-career endocrinologists win 2026 awards spanning tumors, ADHD, and diabetes tech

The Endocrine Society

The Endocrine Society has selected five researchers for its 2026 Early Investigator Awards, recognizing work that spans thyroid cancer diagnostics, the multigenerational effects of endocrine-disrupting chemicals, adrenal disease genetics, diabetes technology, and pituitary tumor classification. Each winner receives $1,500, complimentary registration and a presentation slot at ENDO 2026, one year of free Society membership, and recognition across the organization's platforms.

The awards were established to support investigators at an early career stage and highlight their contributions to endocrine-related research. Here is what each winner is doing and why it matters.

Building a thyroid biopsy clinic from scratch

Sreekant Avula, M.D., F.A.C.P., is an endocrinologist at Hennepin Healthcare and an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. Avula specializes in diabetes, thyroid disorders, and endocrine emergencies. He established the thyroid biopsy clinic at Hennepin Healthcare and introduced molecular testing for thyroid cancer there - a diagnostic refinement that can help clinicians distinguish benign nodules from malignancies without unnecessary surgery. He also conducts outcomes research using national databases and mentors fellows and residents.

How chemicals in early life ripple across generations

Emily Hilz, Ph.D., is a postdoctoral research fellow in the Division of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Texas at Austin. As a behavioral neuroendocrinologist, Hilz studies how early-life environmental exposures disrupt neurodevelopment and metabolism not just in exposed individuals but across subsequent generations. Her research combines behavioral, endocrinological, and neuromolecular methods to understand how endocrine-disrupting chemicals promote comorbid conditions - particularly the co-occurrence of obesity and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The link between chemical exposure and these conditions remains an active area of investigation, with implications for public health policy and clinical screening.

Decoding why primary aldosteronism looks different in different patients

Stefanie Parisien-La Salle, M.D., F.R.C.P.C., is an endocrinologist and clinician-scientist at the Centre hospitalier de l'Universite de Montreal (CHUM) in Quebec, Canada. She specializes in adrenal disease and is completing her Ph.D. on the genetics of adrenal disorders. Her research focuses on the factors that contribute to the variable clinical presentation of primary aldosteronism - a condition in which the adrenal glands produce too much aldosterone, driving high blood pressure. Primary aldosteronism is increasingly recognized as an underdiagnosed cause of hypertension. Parisien-La Salle's long-term aim is to improve detection through screening programs, which could identify patients who are currently being treated for essential hypertension when their condition actually has a treatable adrenal cause.

Continuous glucose monitoring meets primary care

Jagriti Upadhyay, M.D., F.A.C.P., E.C.N.U., is an endocrinologist at Lahey Hospital and Medical Center in Burlington, Massachusetts, and an assistant professor at UMass Chan Medical School. She serves as academic vice chair and associate program director at Lahey. Upadhyay's research focuses on diabetes and metabolic disorders, with particular attention to continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) studies and care delivery models that empower primary care providers to manage complex endocrine patients more effectively. She also conducts pituitary research. The push to make CGM data actionable for non-specialist physicians reflects a broader trend in endocrinology: the technology exists, but integrating it into routine primary care workflows remains a practical challenge.

Mapping pituitary tumors with multi-omics and global cohorts

Qilin Zhang, M.D., Ph.D., M.M.Sci., is an endocrine researcher in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism at Mass General Brigham in Boston and an associate professor of neurosurgery at Huashan Hospital in Shanghai, China. Zhang's research focuses on pituitary neuroendocrine tumors and integrates multi-omics data, molecular imaging, and large international clinical cohorts. The goal is to advance molecular classification of these tumors, improve precision diagnosis, and enable personalized management. Pituitary tumors account for roughly 10-15% of all intracranial neoplasms, and their behavior varies enormously - some are benign and slow-growing, while others are aggressive and resistant to treatment. Better molecular classification could help clinicians predict which tumors need aggressive intervention and which can be monitored.

The award in context

The Early Investigator Awards reflect the Endocrine Society's ongoing effort to identify and support researchers during a career stage that is notoriously difficult to navigate. Early-career investigators face intense competition for grant funding, and many leave academic research before establishing independent programs. The $1,500 monetary component is modest, but the presentation opportunity at ENDO - the world's largest endocrine meeting - and the visibility across the Society's platforms can help build the professional networks and name recognition that sustain research careers.

The Endocrine Society, with more than 18,000 members across 133 countries, positions itself as the primary professional organization for scientists and clinicians working in hormone research and care. Additional information about the awards and the application process is available at endocrine.org/awards/early-investigators-awards.

What these awards do not tell us

Awards of this type recognize promise and early accomplishment rather than completed bodies of work. Several of the winners are studying questions - multigenerational chemical effects, pituitary tumor subtypes, aldosteronism screening - that will require years or decades of additional research before clinical applications become clear. The selection process, while peer-reviewed, reflects the priorities and judgments of the awarding organization. And a $1,500 prize, while symbolically significant, does not address the structural funding challenges that drive many talented investigators out of academic science.

Still, the 2026 cohort represents a cross-section of where endocrinology is headed: toward precision diagnostics, technology-enabled care delivery, environmental health, and global research collaboration. Whether these researchers can sustain their trajectories will depend less on awards than on the funding landscape and institutional support they encounter in the years ahead.