The Endocrine Society is pleased to welcome Carol Lange, PhD, who takes office during ENDO 2025 in San Francisco. Lange succeeds John Newell-Price, MD, PhD, FRCP.
Lange is a professor of medicine and molecular pharmacology and therapeutics, and holds the Tickle Family Land Grant Endowed Chair of Breast Cancer Research, and is the associate director for basic science and the director of the Molecular, Genetic, and Cellular Targets of Cancer Training Program at the University of Minnesota Masonic Cancer Center in Minneapolis, Minn. Her research focuses on the role of steroid hormone receptors in breast and ovarian cancers.
“I wanted to run for president because I wanted to help support our Society and continue our wonderful momentum and legacy,” Lange says. “I know I will enjoy working together and representing our basic, translational, and clinical members and especially our early-career members and future leaders in a manner that is consistent with our mission.”
Lange graduated magna cum laude with honors with B.S. degrees in both biology and chemistry as well as a mathematics minor from the University of Denver. She received her PhD in pharmaceutical science and molecular toxicology from the University of Colorado School of Pharmacy. She then completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the lab of Gary L. Johnson, PhD, at National Jewish Center for Immunology and Respiratory Medicine (Denver), followed by a second postdoctoral fellowship in the laboratory of Kathryn Horwitz, PhD, at the University of Colorado. She was then recruited to the University of Minnesota Masonic Cancer Center, where she currently directs her research program. Lange forged a research career studying the intersection of oncogenic signaling pathways with steroid hormone receptor actions in women’s cancers.
Leading the Way
Lange, a passionate mentor to trainees at all levels, has held many leadership positions within the Endocrine Society. She served as the editor-in-chief of the Society’s flagship basic science journal, Endocrinology. During her term as the Annual Meeting Steering Committee Basic Science chair, she helped found the annual Trainee Day at ENDO, an event that fosters the next generation of endocrine researchers. She also received the Society’s 2020 Sidney H. Ingbar Laureate Award for Distinguished Service to the Field of Endocrinology for her many contributions.
When she was appointed editor-in-chief of Endocrinology in April 2020, she said that she’s dedicated her entire career to understanding the molecular and biochemical underpinnings of hormone action and looks forward to continuing the journal’s commitment to publishing “fascinating original research and molecular mechanistic studies on endocrine pathways, cells, systems, and diseases.”
“I have found all my prior service to the Endocrine Society to be extremely fun and fulfilling. It’s the people – working with people who care deeply and are so dedicated is the best professional experience in my view.”
“My charge is to strengthen our basic science base and help integrate this effort with the Endocrine Society annual meeting programming by collaboration with Endocrine Society leadership across the science and educational missions,” she told Endocrine News at the time.
Lange has led the way in the field of endocrinology on many fronts. In October 2024, Lange co-chaired the 1st International Conference on Steroid Hormones and Receptors (SHR) with Eric R. Prossnitz, PhD, with help from additional national and international co-organizers, Zeynep Madak-Erdogan (University of Illinois), Matthias Barton (Zurich, Switzerland) and Brian Harvey (RCSI).
Building on 25 years of highly successful conferences, SHR was an international biomedical conference that explored state-of-the-art advances in steroid hormone and receptor functions, both rapid and genomic, in various aspects of biology and medicine in terms of normal physiology and pathophysiology.
Lange and Prossnitz especially wanted to support early career scientists at SHR. “We would like to feature many of our outstanding trainees at this meeting and introduce them to the leaders and mentors in our field as they present their work in posters and short talks and have the opportunity to network during our social hours, at meals, and during other informal breaks,” they said.
Finding Her People
Lange has been an active member of the Endocrine Society since she attended her very first ENDO in 1996. She has attended every ENDO since, chairing sessions, reviewing abstracts, judging posters, leading Meet the Professor sessions, and serving on the Annual Meeting Steering Committee from 2003 to 2006. She’s also served on the Society’s Scientific Meetings and Educational Programs Committee, the Publications Core Committee, the Laureate Awards Committee, and on the Nominating Committee.
It’s apt and almost poetic that Lange’s first ENDO was in San Francisco, where she’ll be handed the baton almost three decades later. “After my very first ENDO meeting (San Francisco, 1996) I remember telling my parents that I had ‘found my people,’” she said. “Being at the meeting in a new city was energizing and I had so much fun networking and socializing with the people (members) in my field of nuclear receptor science.”
“I have found all my prior service to the Endocrine Society to be extremely fun and fulfilling,” Lange says. “It’s the people – working with people who care deeply and are so dedicated is the best professional experience in my view.”
When asked whether she had any advice for a postdoc fellow to encourage them to become more active in the Society, ever the mentor, Lange said: “Go to the meeting every single year. Sit in the front rows and near a microphone during the symposia you attend. Ask questions, be seen, meet people, and interact as much as possible in all the venues. Smile and have fun. In other words, dive in, find your people, and have a blast! Also, be sure to stay an extra day or two to visit the city and enjoy sightseeing while you clear your head, energize, and plan for your next steps once home and back in the lab.”
“One of the things that drives me is the desire to positively impact the field of endocrinology and promote the success of others within my circle of influence, both as individuals (authors and readers) and at the level of the Society,” Lange wrote in Endocrinology when she took the helm of the journal. “As a veteran scientist and member, much of my leadership experience has come from service to the Society. As such, I understand the unique strength and core identity of the Society and I enjoy promoting and supporting a stimulating and rich professional environment that recognizes that everyone has something valuable to contribute and is culturally inclusive, diverse, and innovative.”
Lange concludes with: “I hope to live up to the high level of phenomenal leadership we have had in the past and continue to inspire young scientists, infuse energy, and help people connect at ENDO 2026 and beyond.”
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