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Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism

Department of Medicine

A Message from The Chief

Welcome to the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism (EDM) at the Miller School of Medicine. EDM is home to a cadre of leading experts treating the full spectrum of endocrine and metabolic diseases, including diabetes, thyroid diseases and endocrine cancer, pituitary and adrenal diseases, obesity, bone metabolic disease and reproductive endocrinology. The mission of our Division is organized in three major areas:

Clinical Care

Our major goal is to provide the most outstanding specialized care to our patients while training the next generation of academic Endocrinologists. This mission is supported by a robust and extensive group of physician scientists and researchers who are leaders in discovery of new diagnostic and treatment of endocrine disorders and diabetes. Our physicians provide state of the art care to patients that belong to one of the largest medical complexes in the country, and include the University of Miami Hospital and Clinics, Jackson Memorial Hospital, the Sylvester Cancer Center and the Miami VA Healthcare system. In addition, EDM clinic programs include management of thyroid, diabetes, osteoporosis, parathyroid, adrenal, pituitary and endocrine tumors. This care is provided both at our main campus and at outpatient satellite facilities. Dedicated faculty provides the finest subspecialty care possible to our patients. The clinical effort is assisted both by our clinical-educator, physician-scientist, clinician-scholar and part-time faculty.

EDM members work in close contact with the section Endocrine Surgeons and our Center of Excellence for Laparoendoscopic and Minimally Invasive Surgery to treat patients with endocrine tumors and monitor patients undergoing bariatric surgery. A multidisciplinary team of experts in Neurosurgery, Ophthalmology, Otolaryngology, Neuroendocrinology and Radiation Oncology are part of our pituitary and adrenal unit. In addition, we work close with our Pediatric Endocrinology colleagues to ensure a smooth transition from pediatric to adult endocrine care. We also provide patients with specialized dynamic outpatient diagnostic testing that assist in the diagnosis of complex endocrine diseases.

Education

The EDM Division is committed to prepare future leaders in patient care, clinical and translational research. Our J. Maxwell McKenzie Endocrinology ACGME-accredited fellowship program in adult endocrinology foments independent careers in academic endocrinology, research and offers exposure to rare endocrine disorders. The program honors Dr. MacKenzie’s seminal contributions to the field of thyroidology, which includes the development of a mouse TSH bioassay. Our fellows are exposed to a very solid clinical training program with a balance between clinical work, teaching and research. A first year training focus on inpatient endocrinology at University of Miami Hospital and Clinics, Jackson Memorial Hospital, the Sylvester Cancer Center and the Miami VA Healthcare system provides outstanding exposure to inpatient endocrine diseases. This complemented with our outpatient rotations in different subspecialty clinics deliver all the elements for a solid training in endocrinology. Exposure to different conferences and personalized teaching as well as assigning a mentor to develop a research project complement our clinical training. All these activities are performed in a very nurturing environment.

Research

The EDM Division research faculty members are involved in both basic science and clinical research. EDM faculty are actively engaged in diabetes, metabolic syndrome, thyroid, bone and adrenal disease research to discover new avenues of treatment, evaluate latest treatments and diagnostic procedures. This environment provides excellent training to our fellows. In addition to our faculty, the Diabetes Research Institute leads the world in cure-focused research of type 1 diabetes and has made significant contributions to the field that are used in diabetes centers around the world. The DRI translates promising findings from the lab to patients in the fastest, safest and most efficient way possible. Our multidisciplinary teams of scientists, together with international collaborators, are bridging cell-based therapies with emerging technologies to restore insulin production in patients with diabetes. This is a unique center, staffed by a team of nutritionist, specialized certified diabetes nurses and physicians that deliver comprehensive diabetes care.

EDM is the home to Nobel Laureate, Dr. Andrew Schally, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1977 for his work on hypothalamic hormones. Throughout his career he has made novel discoveries in hypothalamic hormones TRH, LHRH, and somatostatin; Beneficial effect of LHRH antagonist Cetrorelix in the treatment of men with BPH; Receptors for growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) on tumors. Dr. Schally also developed the present therapy for men with advanced hormone-dependent prostate cancer based on LHRH agonists; Agonistic and antagonistic analogs of LHRH; Targeted cytotoxic peptide analogs of LHRH, bombesin, and somatostatin

We invite you to learn more about the patient care, research and training programs that EDM offers. We are grateful to our patients and we will continue to strive to serve our community while abiding by the highest standards of clinical care, advancing scientific knowledge, retain and motivate the most talented professionals.

Sincerely,

Ernesto Bernal-Mizrachi, M.D.
Professor of Medicine and Chief,
Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism
University of Miami Miller School of Medicine