Division Information

About DCE: 

Without effective signaling systems, multicellular organisms would be chaotic collections of individual cells. Members of SICB’s Division of Comparative Endocrinology conduct integrative research in a wide variety of different animal species that seeks to understand how hormones and neurohormones integrate internal and external information, and examines how endocrine systems impact and are impacted by ecology and evolution. Research examining the development of endocrine systems, and the relative contributions of environmental and genetic effects on these systems, also has a home in our division.

Our division welcomes new members with any type of endocrine aspect to their work. At the annual SICB meeting, DCE organizes Symposia, showcases the work of early career scientists with our annual Aubrey Gorbman award for Best Student Oral Presentation and Lynn Riddiford award for Best Student Poster, and acknowledges the impact of established and influential researchers in comparative endocrinology through the Howard Bern Lecture.

DCE Officers:

DCE Bylaws

View the DCE Bylaws here.

Proposed bylaws amendments for Spring 2024

Divisional Members Meeting Minutes

Minutes of past divisional Members Meetings are available here. Members Meetings occur each year in association with the annual society-wide conference in January.

News & Announcements

Best Student Presentation & Awards

Two awards will be given in the Best Student Presentation competition at the SICB Annual Meeting: one for the best oral presentation, the Aubrey Gorbman Award, and one for the best poster presentation, the Lynn Riddiford Award. In addition to a certificate, the winners will receive a cash prize. Students must be members of SICB. Students who have not yet been awarded a Ph.D. are eligible for these awards, as are new Ph.D.’s who have received the degree no more than 12 months prior to the meeting and are presenting a paper on their graduate research. The work must be original and must have been carried out principally by the student presenting the paper or the poster. In order to be considered for either competition (oral or poster), the Best Student Presentation Program box must be checked on the SICB abstract submission form.

The Aubrey Gorbman Award

DCE will group all the students competing for the Aubrey Gorbman Award in a single oral session. By the time the SICB Program Committee convenes to lay out the meeting schedule (late September or early October), a committee of 5 judges will have selected up to eight students for the oral competition. The committee will consist of judges chosen by the divisional Program Officer, who is the head judge (DPO.DCE@sicb.org).

Each student in the competition will give a 15 minute talk, including 3 minutes for questions. The 5-judge panel will attend all presentations and decide on a winner during the meeting. The winner will be announced at the DCE social.

Applicants not selected for the final oral competition will be contacted by the divisional Program Officer and given the option of giving an oral presentation during a regular session or presenting a poster and entering the Lynn Riddiford Best Student Poster Competition.

The Lynn Riddiford Award

The Lynn Riddiford Award competition for Best Student Poster Presentation will be open to all student applicants.

Awards

2002 – Howard Bern (inaugural, Anaheim Meeting)
2003 – Hubert Vaudry (Toronto Meeting)
2004 – Yoshi Nagahama (New Orleans Meeting)
2005 – Jim Truman (San Diego Meeting)
2006 – Stacia Sower (Orlando Meeting)
2007 – Nancy Sherwood (Phoenix Meeting)
2008 – Peter Thomas (San Antonio Meeting)
2009 – Peter Sharp (Boston Meeting)
2010 – Carl Schreck (Seattle Meeting)
2011 – John Wingfield (Salt Lake City Meeting)
2012 – Lynn Riddiford (Charleston Meeting)
2013 – Ellen Ketterson (San Francisco Meeting)
2014 – Louis J. Guillette, Jr. (Austin Meeting)
2015 – Randy Nelson (West Palm Beach Meeting)
2016 – Elizabeth Adkins-Regan (Portland Meeting)
2017 – David Crews (New Orleans Meeting)
2018 – David Norris (San Francisco Meeting)
2019 – L. Michael Romero (Tampa Meeting)
2020 – George Bentley (Austin Meeting)
2021 – Michaela Hau (Virtual Meeting)
2022 – Tyrone Hayes (deferred)
2023 – Tyrone Hayes (Austin Meeting)
2024 – Marilyn Ramenofsky (Seattle Meeting)

The Howard A. Bern Lecture, which each year highlights the work of an influential comparative endocrinologist, has been an excellent forum for presenting the newest breakthroughs and synthetic themes in the field. This lecture is named in recognition of one of the founding fathers of Comparative Endocrinology and a member of the National Academy of Science.

Donate to the Howard A. Bern Endowment Fund
This fund began with an initial contribution by Elsevier, publisher of General and Comparative Endocrinology, but donations are needed to ensure the continuation of this vital part of the SICB annual meeting. All proceeds from the fund will be used exclusively to support the lecture. Contributions can be made at:
https://burkclients.com/sicb/sicbcart/donations.php

Career and Resources

DCE Advice on Landing a Job

SICB’s job board can be found here.