EndoCompass project: research roadmap for reproductive and developmental endocrinology

Martine Cools^{1

2}, Csilla Krausz^{3

4}, Anders Juul^{5

6}, Djuro Macut⁷, Marianne Skovsager Andersen^{8

9}, Anna-Maria Andersson^{5

6}, Cynthia L Andoniadou^{10

11}, S Faisal Ahmed¹², Julie Bakker¹³, Anu Bashamboo¹⁴, Hermann M Behre¹⁵, Marco Bonomi^{16

17}, Alexander Siegfried Busch⁵, Chloë De Roo¹⁸, Arianne Dessens^{1

19}, Muhammad Fakhar-I-Adil²⁰, Flaminia Fanelli²¹, Alessandra Daphne Fisher⁴, Christa Flück²², Alessandra Gambineri^{21

23}, Aleksander Giwercman²⁴, Claus H Gravholt^{25

26

27}, Sabine Hannema^{28

29

30}, Björn Heindryckx²⁰, Olaf Hiort³¹, Nadine C Hornig³², Sasha Howard^{33

34}, Lourdes Ibáñez^{35

36}, Martin Blomberg Jensen^{37

38}, Niels Jørgensen^{5

6}, Sarantis Livadas³⁹, Angela Lucas-Herald¹², George Mastorakos⁴⁰, Maria Cristina Meriggiola^{21

41}, Ken Ong^{42

43}, Milica Opalic Palibrk⁷, Duarte Pignatelli^{44

45}, Nelly Pitteloud⁴⁶, Ewa Rajpert-De Meyts⁵, Rodolfo Rey⁴⁷, Ralitsa Robeva⁴⁸, Carlotta Pozza⁴⁹, Stefan Schlatt⁵⁰, Giorgia Spaggiari⁵¹, Lloyd Tack^{1

2}, Manuel Tena-Sempere^{52

53}, Herman Tournaye⁵⁴, Guy T'Sjoen⁵⁵, Norah Van Mello⁵⁶, Walter Vena^{57

58}, Bulent O Yildiz⁵⁹, Francis de Zegher⁶⁰

Affiliations

¹ Department of Internal Medicine and Paediatrics, Ghent University.
² Department of Paediatric Endocrinology, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent 9000, Belgium.
³ Department of Experimental and Clinical Biomedical Sciences, University of Florence, Florence 50139, Italy.
⁴ Careggi University Hospital, Florence 50139, Italy.
⁵ Department of Growth and Reproduction, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark.
⁶ Rigshospitalet, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, International Research and Research Training Center in Endocrine Disruption of Male Reproduction and Child Health (EDMaRC), Rigshospitalet and University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
⁷ Clinic for Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases, University Clinical Center of Serbia, Faculty of Medicine University of Belgrade, Belgrade 11000, Serbia.
⁸ Endocrinology, Odense Universitetshospital, Odense 5000, Denmark.
⁹ University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.
¹⁰ Centre for Craniofacial and Regenerative Biology, King's College London, Faculty of Dentistry, Oral and Craniofacial Sciences, London WC2R 2LS, United Kingdom.
¹¹ Department of Medicine III, Faculty of Medicine Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
¹² Developmental Endocrinology Research Group, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom.
¹³ Département des sciences biomédicales et précliniques Biologie de la différenciation sexuelle du cerveau GIGA Neurosciences-Neuroendocrinology, University of Liege, Liège, Walloon Region, Belgium.
¹⁴ Human Developmental Genetics Unit, CNRS (UMR 373), Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Paris 75015, France.
¹⁵ Center for Reproductive Medicine and Andrology, University of Halle, Halle, Germany.
¹⁶ Department of Medical Biotechnology and Translational Medicine, University of Milan, Milan, Italy.
¹⁷ Department of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Milan 20133, Italy.
¹⁸ Department for Reproductive Medicine, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent 9000, Belgium.
¹⁹ Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Erasmus MC-Sophia Children's Hospital, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
²⁰ Ghent-Fertility And Stem cell Team (G-FaST), Department for Reproductive Medicine, Department of Human Structure and Repair, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent 9000, Belgium.
²¹ Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Bologna Hospital of Bologna Sant'Orsola-Malpighi Polyclinic, Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy.
²² Pediatric Endocrinology, Diabetology and Metabolism, University Childrens Hospital, Bern, Switzerland.
²³ Division of Endocrinology and Diabetes Prevention and Care, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Bologna Policlinico S Orsola, Bologna, Italy.
²⁴ Deparment of Translational Medicine, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden.
²⁵ Department of Molecular Medicine, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark.
²⁶ Department of Clinical Medicine, Health, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
²⁷ Aarhus University and Department of Endocrinology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark.
²⁸ Department of Paediatrics, Amsterdam UMC location Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
²⁹ Amsterdam Gastroenterology Endocrinology Metabolism, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
³⁰ Amsterdam Reproduction and Development, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
³¹ Division of Paediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes, Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany.
³² Institute of Human Genetics, Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany.
³³ Centre for Endocrinology, William Harvey Research Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom.
³⁴ Department of Paediatric Endocrinology, Barts Health NHS Trust, London E1 1BB, United Kingdom.
³⁵ Department of Endocrinology, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Esplugues, Barcelona, Spain.
³⁶ Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Diabetes y Enfermedades Metabólicas Asociadas (CIBERDEM), ISCIII, Madrid, Spain.
³⁷ Division of Translational Endocrinology, Department of Endocrinology and Internal Medicine, Copenhagen University Hospital - Herlev and Gentofte, Denmark.
³⁸ Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
³⁹ Unit of Endocrinology, Athens Medical Centre, Athens, Greece.
⁴⁰ Faculty of Medicine, Endocrine Unit, "Aretaieion" Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens University, Athens, Greece.
⁴¹ IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Bologna, Policlinico S Orsola, Division of Gynecology and Physiopathology of Human Reproduction, University of Bologna, Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy.
⁴² MRC Epidemiology Unit-Childhood Obesity, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
⁴³ Department of Paediatrics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
⁴⁴ Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.
⁴⁵ Hospital S Joao, Porto, Portugal.
⁴⁶ CHUV-EDM, Lausanne, Switzerland.
⁴⁷ CONICET-FEI-División Endocrinología, Centro de Investigaciones Endocrinológicas "Dr. César Bergadá" (CEDIE), Hospital de Niños R Gutiérrez, Buenos Aires 1330, Argentina.
⁴⁸ Medical University-Sofia, MF, Department of Endocrinology, USHATE "Acad. Iv. Penchev", Sofia 1431, Bulgaria.
⁴⁹ Department of Experimental Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome 00161 Italy.
⁵⁰ CeRA, Univ Münster, Münster 48149, Germany.
⁵¹ Unit of Endocrinology, Department of Medical Specialties, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria of Modena, Modena 41126, Italy.
⁵² Physiology Section, Instituto Maimónides de Investigación Biomédica de Cordoba (IMIBIC), Cordoba, Spain.
⁵³ CIBER Fisiopatologia de la Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBEROBN), University of Cordoba, Cordoba, Spain.
⁵⁴ Brussels IVF, the Centre for Reproductive Medicine of the Dutch-speaking Brussels Free University Hospital VUB, 101, Laarbeeklaan, Brussels 1090, Belgium.
⁵⁵ Endocrinology, University Hospital Gent, Gent 9000, Belgium.
⁵⁶ Center of Expertise on Gender Dysphoria, Amsterdam UMC Location AMC, Amsterdam 1118 1081, The Netherlands.
⁵⁷ Department of Biomedical Sciences, Humanitas University, Pieve Emanuele-Milan 20090, Italy.
⁵⁸ Endocrinology and Diabetology Center, Humanitas Gavazzeni Institute, Bergamo 24125, Italy.
⁵⁹ Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Hacettepe University School of Medicine, Ankara 06100, Turkey.
⁶⁰ Department of Development and Regeneration, Woman and Child, University of Leuven, Leuven 3000, Belgium.

PMID: 41104478
DOI: 10.1093/ejendo/lvaf069

Free article

EndoCompass project: research roadmap for reproductive and developmental endocrinology

Martine Cools et al. Eur J Endocrinol. 2025.

Free article

. 2025 Oct 17;193(Supplement_2):ii97-ii116.

doi: 10.1093/ejendo/lvaf069.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Internal Medicine and Paediatrics, Ghent University.
² Department of Paediatric Endocrinology, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent 9000, Belgium.
³ Department of Experimental and Clinical Biomedical Sciences, University of Florence, Florence 50139, Italy.
⁴ Careggi University Hospital, Florence 50139, Italy.
⁵ Department of Growth and Reproduction, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark.
⁶ Rigshospitalet, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, International Research and Research Training Center in Endocrine Disruption of Male Reproduction and Child Health (EDMaRC), Rigshospitalet and University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
⁷ Clinic for Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases, University Clinical Center of Serbia, Faculty of Medicine University of Belgrade, Belgrade 11000, Serbia.
⁸ Endocrinology, Odense Universitetshospital, Odense 5000, Denmark.
⁹ University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.
¹⁰ Centre for Craniofacial and Regenerative Biology, King's College London, Faculty of Dentistry, Oral and Craniofacial Sciences, London WC2R 2LS, United Kingdom.
¹¹ Department of Medicine III, Faculty of Medicine Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
¹² Developmental Endocrinology Research Group, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom.
¹³ Département des sciences biomédicales et précliniques Biologie de la différenciation sexuelle du cerveau GIGA Neurosciences-Neuroendocrinology, University of Liege, Liège, Walloon Region, Belgium.
¹⁴ Human Developmental Genetics Unit, CNRS (UMR 373), Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Paris 75015, France.
¹⁵ Center for Reproductive Medicine and Andrology, University of Halle, Halle, Germany.
¹⁶ Department of Medical Biotechnology and Translational Medicine, University of Milan, Milan, Italy.
¹⁷ Department of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Milan 20133, Italy.
¹⁸ Department for Reproductive Medicine, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent 9000, Belgium.
¹⁹ Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Erasmus MC-Sophia Children's Hospital, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
²⁰ Ghent-Fertility And Stem cell Team (G-FaST), Department for Reproductive Medicine, Department of Human Structure and Repair, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent 9000, Belgium.
²¹ Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Bologna Hospital of Bologna Sant'Orsola-Malpighi Polyclinic, Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy.
²² Pediatric Endocrinology, Diabetology and Metabolism, University Childrens Hospital, Bern, Switzerland.
²³ Division of Endocrinology and Diabetes Prevention and Care, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Bologna Policlinico S Orsola, Bologna, Italy.
²⁴ Deparment of Translational Medicine, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden.
²⁵ Department of Molecular Medicine, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark.
²⁶ Department of Clinical Medicine, Health, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
²⁷ Aarhus University and Department of Endocrinology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark.
²⁸ Department of Paediatrics, Amsterdam UMC location Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
²⁹ Amsterdam Gastroenterology Endocrinology Metabolism, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
³⁰ Amsterdam Reproduction and Development, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
³¹ Division of Paediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes, Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany.
³² Institute of Human Genetics, Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany.
³³ Centre for Endocrinology, William Harvey Research Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom.
³⁴ Department of Paediatric Endocrinology, Barts Health NHS Trust, London E1 1BB, United Kingdom.
³⁵ Department of Endocrinology, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Esplugues, Barcelona, Spain.
³⁶ Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Diabetes y Enfermedades Metabólicas Asociadas (CIBERDEM), ISCIII, Madrid, Spain.
³⁷ Division of Translational Endocrinology, Department of Endocrinology and Internal Medicine, Copenhagen University Hospital - Herlev and Gentofte, Denmark.
³⁸ Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
³⁹ Unit of Endocrinology, Athens Medical Centre, Athens, Greece.
⁴⁰ Faculty of Medicine, Endocrine Unit, "Aretaieion" Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens University, Athens, Greece.
⁴¹ IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Bologna, Policlinico S Orsola, Division of Gynecology and Physiopathology of Human Reproduction, University of Bologna, Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy.
⁴² MRC Epidemiology Unit-Childhood Obesity, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
⁴³ Department of Paediatrics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
⁴⁴ Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.
⁴⁵ Hospital S Joao, Porto, Portugal.
⁴⁶ CHUV-EDM, Lausanne, Switzerland.
⁴⁷ CONICET-FEI-División Endocrinología, Centro de Investigaciones Endocrinológicas "Dr. César Bergadá" (CEDIE), Hospital de Niños R Gutiérrez, Buenos Aires 1330, Argentina.
⁴⁸ Medical University-Sofia, MF, Department of Endocrinology, USHATE "Acad. Iv. Penchev", Sofia 1431, Bulgaria.
⁴⁹ Department of Experimental Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome 00161 Italy.
⁵⁰ CeRA, Univ Münster, Münster 48149, Germany.
⁵¹ Unit of Endocrinology, Department of Medical Specialties, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria of Modena, Modena 41126, Italy.
⁵² Physiology Section, Instituto Maimónides de Investigación Biomédica de Cordoba (IMIBIC), Cordoba, Spain.
⁵³ CIBER Fisiopatologia de la Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBEROBN), University of Cordoba, Cordoba, Spain.
⁵⁴ Brussels IVF, the Centre for Reproductive Medicine of the Dutch-speaking Brussels Free University Hospital VUB, 101, Laarbeeklaan, Brussels 1090, Belgium.
⁵⁵ Endocrinology, University Hospital Gent, Gent 9000, Belgium.
⁵⁶ Center of Expertise on Gender Dysphoria, Amsterdam UMC Location AMC, Amsterdam 1118 1081, The Netherlands.
⁵⁷ Department of Biomedical Sciences, Humanitas University, Pieve Emanuele-Milan 20090, Italy.
⁵⁸ Endocrinology and Diabetology Center, Humanitas Gavazzeni Institute, Bergamo 24125, Italy.
⁵⁹ Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Hacettepe University School of Medicine, Ankara 06100, Turkey.
⁶⁰ Department of Development and Regeneration, Woman and Child, University of Leuven, Leuven 3000, Belgium.

PMID: 41104478
DOI: 10.1093/ejendo/lvaf069

Abstract

Background: Endocrine science remains underrepresented in European Union research programs despite the fundamental role of hormone health in human wellbeing. Analysis of the CORDIS database reveals a persistent gap between the societal impact of endocrine disorders and their research prioritization. At national funding level, endocrine societies report limited or little attention of national research funding towards endocrinology. The EndoCompass project-a joint initiative between the European Society of Endocrinology and the European Society of Paediatric Endocrinology, aimed to identify and promote strategic research priorities in endocrine science to address critical hormone-related health challenges.

Methods: Research priorities were established through comprehensive analysis of the EU CORDIS database covering the Horizon 2020 framework period (2014-2020). Expert consultation was conducted to identify key research priorities, followed by broader stakeholder engagement including society members and patient advocacy groups.

Results: Research priorities encompass variations in sex development, hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal regulation, and female and male reproductive disorders. Key areas include improving diagnostic capacity through (epi)genetic analysis, optimizing hormonal treatments, developing fertility preservation strategies. Special emphasis is placed on establishing pan-European registries, developing novel reproductive technologies, and exploring environmental impacts on reproductive health.

Conclusions: This component of the EndoCompass project provides an evidence-based roadmap for strategic research investment. This framework identifies crucial investigation areas into reproductive and developmental endocrinology pathophysiology, prevention, and treatment strategies, ultimately aimed at reducing the burden of these disorders on individuals and society. The findings support the broader EndoCompass objective of aligning research funding with areas of the highest potential impact in endocrine health.

Keywords: EndoCompass; HPG axis (hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal; funding; reproduction; roadmap).

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: None declared.

MeSH terms

Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources
- Archivio Istituzionale della Ricerca Unimi - Access Free Full Text
- Silverchair Information Systems
Medical
- MedlinePlus Health Information
Miscellaneous
- NCI CPTAC Assay Portal

Save citation to file

Email citation

Add to Collections

Add to My Bibliography

Your saved search

Create a file for external citation management software

Your RSS Feed

EndoCompass project: research roadmap for reproductive and developmental endocrinology

Affiliations

EndoCompass project: research roadmap for reproductive and developmental endocrinology

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Medical

Miscellaneous