Roy O. Greep Award for Outstanding Research
Joseph Bass, MD, PhD
Bass is the Charles F. Kettering Professor of Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, Ill. As a world leader 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.
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.
How has the Endocrine Society supported your professional development/career journey?
My original involvement began during my clinical training, specifically in consolidating and extending my exposure to case studies in medical physiology. As an early-stage investigator, I had the opportunity to participate as a member of the Annual Meeting Steering Committee — forging new friendships in the spirit of shared interest in biomedical research and clinical care. An important aspect of the Society has been its wide embrace of those identifying primarily as basic scientists and clinicians. There are very few international organizations that effectively balance the dual mission of clinical and investigative career pathways, and I am grateful that the Society has remained welcoming to these fundamental yet conjoined endeavors.
As a Laureate Award recipient, do you have any advice for those just beginning their careers?
The greatest award is the reward of working each day exploring the unknown. The intrinsic stimulation of discovery and the varieties of experience that characterize our endeavor remain the most fundamental goal. The community of science, beginning with mentors and extending to students and trainees, is the most meaningful part of the long trajectory, and buffers the bumps that inevitably occur along the way. To be more granular, that chance is key and favors the prepared mind are accurate axioms. Tailoring training towards specific interests — for me this was to apply molecular and biochemical approaches in medical physiology — and recognizing when an unexpected angle on a problem had emerged were core elements in the earliest steps of my career. Converting the unexpected into inquiry and iteratively following new observations beyond one’s comfort zone remain important. I have also been fortunate to have had generous mentors and a community of friends with shared interests — not only in science and medicine but in other parts of life that strengthen our conversations — for me this often meant music. Recovery and resilience in the face of perceived obstacles likely plays a role in sustaining a career for many of us. Maintaining a core appreciation of the excitement of solving puzzles, and liberating imagination and originality in the process, will ultimately unite vocation and avocation. There is not a single pathway, instead there are many varieties of problems that offer an equally diverse range of solutions as there are career possibilities. In part, the luck of landing on an unexplored territory and recognizing how to acquire expertise to expand into uncharted space ultimately moves us collectively forward in our own individual careers and as members of a broader community.
ABOUT THE AWARD
Roy O. Greep Award for Outstanding Research is presented for meritorious contributions to research in endocrinology. Supported by the Roy O. Greep Memorial Fund.
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