June 2023

ENDOCRINOLOGY

JOSEPH BASS, MD, RECEIVED A 2023 LAUREATE AWARD FROM THE ENDOCRINE SOCIETY, AND A 2023 SLEEP RESEARCH SOCIETY AWARD

Listen to a podcast episode that discusses Dr. Bass' award-winning research.

 Featuring: ​​Joseph Bass, MD, PhD

2023 LAUREATE AWARD FROM THE ENDOCRINE SOCIETY

Each year the Society recognizes the meritorious achievements of endocrine researchers and clinicians worldwide. These Laureate Awards recognize endocrinologists for seminal research, meritorious service, leadership and mentorship, innovation, international contributions, public service, translation of science to practice, and lifetime achievement. The Endocrine Society will present the awards to the winners at ENDO 2023, the Society’s annual meeting. For information on nominating a deserving endocrinologist, and to learn more about these awards, please visit our Laureate Awards nomination page. 

Joseph Bass, MD, PhD, was awarded the Roy O. Greep Award for Outstanding Research. This annual award recognizes meritorious contributions to research in endocrinology. Dr. Bass is the Charles F. Kettering Professor of Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, Ill. He is one of the world's leaders in circadian biology and endocrinology. His creativity and insights as an endocrinologist were instrumental in his discovery that a mutation in a core circadian clock gene lead to abnormal glucose metabolism, hyperphagia and alterations in the control of feeding time in mice.

This pioneering work provided the molecular underpinning for current thinking about how shift work leads to obesity and diabetes and set the stage for studies on how meal timing affects health. Dr. Bass next innovatively asked the converse question of whether metabolism reciprocally influences the clock and established that the macronutrient content of diet directly modulates circadian behavior and rhythmic physiology. Most recently, he has elucidated the biochemical basis for NAD+-SIRT1 regulation of core clock function, opening insight into senescence of sleep/wake and metabolic rhythms during aging. ​

This article was originally published on the Endocrine Society's Laureate Awards nomination page on October 3, 2022. 

2023 SLEEP RESEARCH SOCIETY AWARD

​Dr. Bass, a distinguished figure in the field of sleep research, was recently awarded the 2023 Sleep Research Society (SRS) Award for his exceptional contributions to the realm of scientific inquiry. This accolade recognizes his groundbreaking work in unraveling the intricacies of sleep and its profound impact on human health. Dr. Bass's pioneering research has shed light on the fundamental aspects of sleep, ranging from basic molecular mechanisms to clinical applications.

One of Dr. Bass's pivotal breakthroughs centers around the disruption of the core molecular clock, a discovery that unveiled the profound connections between sleep, hunger, and obesity. He demonstrated that clock genes are pivotal for maintaining overall health. His work elucidates how disturbances in the molecular clock can lead to persistent hunger, disrupted sleep patterns, and ultimately, the promotion of obesity. This revelation has fundamentally altered the understanding of circadian rhythms and their role in human well-being.
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Dr. Bass's impact on the field extends beyond his groundbreaking discoveries. As the senior author of the renowned publication titled "Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome in Circadian Clock Mutant Mice," his research has garnered over 2,500 citations. This seminal work was the first to establish the indispensable role of circadian clocks in regulating metabolism at the molecular and cellular levels. Dr. Bass's findings have resonated throughout the scientific community, triggering a surge of interest in the profound influence of circadian dysregulation on metabolic health and disease. Consequently, his research has catalyzed the emergence of a vibrant and burgeoning field of study dedicated to unraveling the complex interplay between circadian rhythms and human physiology.
Joseph Bass, MD, PhD, the director of the Center for Diabetes and Metabolism, chief of Endocrinology in the Department of Medicine, Charles F. Kettering Professor of Medicine, and professor of Endocrinology in the department of Medicine.

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