The Endocrine Society has selected five recipients for its Early Investigator Awards.
The Early Investigators Awards were established to help develop early career investigators and recognize their accomplishments in endocrine-related research. Recipients will receive a $1,500 monetary award, complimentary registration and the opportunity to present at ENDO 2026, one year of free membership to the Society, and public recognition of research accomplishments in various Society platforms.
The Endocrine Society’s 2026 Early Investigator Award winners are:
- Sreekant Avula, MD, FACP, Hennipen Healthcare and the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minn. — Avula is an endocrinologist at Hennepin Healthcare and an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota. He specializes in diabetes, thyroid disorders and endocrine emergencies. He established the thyroid biopsy clinic and introduced molecular testing for thyroid cancer at Hennepin Healthcare. He mentors fellows and residents and conducts outcomes research using national databases to improve endocrine care.
- Emily Hilz, PhD, University of Texas, Austin, Texas — Hilz is a postdoctoral research fellow in the Division of Pharmacology and Toxicology at The University of Texas at Austin. As a behavioral neuroendocrinologist, her research examines how early life environmental exposures disrupt neurodevelopment and metabolism across generations. Her work combines behavioral, endocrinological, and neuromolecular methods to understand how endocrine-disrupting chemicals promote comorbid disease, such as co-occurring obesity and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
- Stéfanie Parisien-La Salle, MD, FRCPC, Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CHUM), Quebec, Canada — Parisien-La Salle is an endocrinologist and clinician-scientist at CHUM who specializes in adrenal disease. She is currently completing her PhD on the genetics of adrenal diseases and participates in the Clinician-Scientist Program at CHUM. Her research examines factors contributing to the variable clinical presentation of primary aldosteronism, with the long-term aim of improving detection through screening programs.
- Jagriti Upadhyay, MD, FACP, ECNU, of Lahey Hospital & Medical Center in Burlington, Mass., and UMass Chan Medical School in Worcester, Mass. — Upadhyay is an endocrinologist focused on diabetes and metabolic disorders. She serves as an academic vice chair and an associate program director at the Lahey Hospital & Medical Center, and as an assistant professor at UMass Chan Medical School. Her work includes continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) studies and innovative care delivery research that empower primary care. She also conducts pituitary research.
- Qilin Zhang, MD, PhD, MMSci, Mass General Brigham, Boston, Mass., and Huashan Hospital, Shanghai, China — Zhang is an endocrine researcher in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism at Mass General Brigham and an associate professor of neurosurgery at Huashan Hospital. His research focuses on pituitary neuroendocrine tumors and integrates multi-omics, molecular imaging and large international clinical cohorts to advance molecular classification, improve precision diagnosis and enable personalized management of pituitary tumors.
Additional information about these awards and the application process can be found at: https://www.endocrine.org/awards/early-investigators-awards.
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