Central European Diabetes Association

Professor Ilze Konrade MD is a highly respected Latvian endocrinologist and academic leader with extensive clinical, research, and teaching experience. She serves as the Head of the Endocrinology Department at Riga Eastern Clinical University Hospital (Gaiļezers) and is a professor at Riga Stradiņš University, where she is involved in medical education and doctoral studies.

 

Prof. Konrade’s research focuses on complex endocrine disorders, including diabetes mellitus and its microvascular complications, autoimmune thyroid disease, and the impact of lifestyle and molecular markers on metabolic health. She has been recognized for her contributions to medicine with prestigious awards, such as the D. H. Grindel Award for outstanding achievements in Latvian healthcare.

 

She has held leadership roles including serving on the board and as chair of the Latvian Association of Endocrinologists, and she has authored numerous scientific publications. Her work bridges clinical care, education, and research, making significant contributions to both patient treatment and medical science in Latvia.

Juris Erenpreiss MD, PhD is a clinical andrologist and a full member of the European Academy of Andrology. He provide consultations and treatment related to male infertility and andrology in iVF Riga. He graduated from the Latvian Medical Academy, specializing in male reproductive function and sexual disorders (andrology), and earned his doctoral degree in 2003. He has completed fellowships in Israel, the Netherlands, Sweden, and at the University of Florence, and has professional experience working in Israel, the Netherlands, and Sweden.

Dr. Erenpreiss is the founder and chair of the Latvian Andrologists Association and leads the andrology residency program at Riga Stradiņš University. He has authored more than 30 international publications and co-authored several chapters in international andrology books. He also leads multiple research projects in andrology and reproductive medicine.

Prof. Ugis Gruntmanis, MD is an internationally recognized endocrinologist with extensive clinical and academic experience. He is Professor of Internal Medicine at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth (USA) and Adjunct Professor at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

His clinical and research interests include osteoporosis, metabolic bone diseases, diabetes, and endocrine disorders. Prof. Gruntmanis is a highly regarded educator and a frequent invited speaker at international endocrinology conferences.

Prof. Angelica Lindén Hirschberg MD, PhD is a leading reproductive endocrinologist and gynecologist from Sweden, internationally recognized for her expertise in female reproductive endocrinology. She is Professor at Karolinska Institutet and Consultant Physician at Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm. Her clinical and research interests focus on disorders of reproductive hormones, hyperandrogenism, polycystic ovary syndrome, fertility, and endocrine aspects of women’s health. Prof. Lindén Hirschberg is an active contributor to international research and education in reproductive endocrinology.

Prof. Per-Henrik Groop MD, DMSc, FRCPE is Emeritus Professor of Internal Medicine (Chair) at the University of Helsinki, and Emeritus Chief Physician at the Department of Nephrology, Helsinki University Hospital. He is also Adjunct Professor at the Department of Diabetes, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia as well as at the Baker Heart & Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, Australia. Founder and Principal Investigator of the Finnish Diabetic Nephropathy (FinnDiane) Study 1997-2024, currently senior advisor.

Carsten Carlberg pHD is a German biochemist, who is since more than 25 years full professor at the Institute of Biomedicine of the University of Eastern Finland in Kuopio. In addition, since early 2022 Dr. Carlberg is also ERA Chair holder for Nutrigenomics in the WELCOME2 project at the Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research, Polish Academy of Sciences in Olsztyn, Poland.

During his time as a postdoc at the Central Research Unit of Roche in Basel (Switzerland), Dr. Carlberg was introduced to vitamin D and focused his investigations on the mechanisms of gene regulation by the micronutrient, its metabolites and synthetic analogues.

Dr. Carlberg contributed with some 200 original and review articles to the field of vitamin D, in particular to the understanding of transcriptome- and epigenome-wide effects of vitamin D in human immune cells.

Prof. Dr. med. Hermann M. Behre is Director and Chief Physician of the Center for Reproductive Medicine and Andrology at the University Hospital Halle (Saale), Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany. He has previously served as President of various scientific societies in the fields of andrology and reproductive medicine and is currently the President of the European Academy of Andrology (EAA). Professor Behre’s main clinical and scientific interests are couple infertility and male hypogonadism.

Jorma Toppari, MD, PhD, is Professor of Physiology at the University of Turku and Chief Physician of Pediatrics at Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland. His clinical specialty is pediatric endocrinology, and he has special competence in andrology and care of type 1 diabetes.  He has served as a chief editor of International Journal of Andrology (2001–09; now Andrology), associate editor of European Journal of Endocrinology (1995-2003), J Ped Endocr Metab (2016-2023), J Endocr and J Mol Endocr (2025-), and has been on editorial boards of several endocrinological journals, including Endocrinology, Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, and Mol Cell Endocrinology. He was the President of the European Academy of Andrology (2010-2014), Finnish Endocrine Society (2010-2013), Finnish Physiological Society (2020-2023). He has made numerous contributions to the studies on male reproductive endocrinology, type 1 diabetes, and endocrine disruption during the past 40 years. He has published more than 600 peer-reviewed articles on endocrinology.

Dr. Cheung is a Paediatric Endocrinologist and the lead for the rare bone service at Great Ormond Street Hospital.  She runs clinic trials and teaches on several international courses on skeletal dysplasia and bone conditions.  She also is a medical advisor for patient groups such as OIFE.

Prof. Rasa Verkauskiena MD, PhD is an esteemed endocrinologist and professor with extensive experience in clinical care, academic education, and scientific research in endocrinology. She leads the Endocrinology Clinic and Institute at the Hospital of Lithuanian University of Health Sciences Kauno klinikos in Kaunas, providing expert diagnosis and treatment of endocrine disorders across all age groups, including diabetes, thyroid, pituitary, and adrenal conditions. Prof. Verkauskienė is also Director of the Endocrinology Institute at the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, where she contributes to medical education and supervises research projects in metabolic diseases and diabetic complications. She is actively involved in national and international research collaborations and has published many scientific works in her field.

Zydrune Visockiene MD, PhD is a Professor at Vilnius University Faculty of Medicine and Head of the Therapy Clinical Group at Vilnius University Hospital Santaros Klinikos. She is a certified endocrinologist with over two decades of clinical and academic experience. Her research focuses on diabetes, metabolic disorders, and the application of digital technologies in healthcare. 

Professor Visockiene has led and contributed to numerous international and EU-funded research projects and serves as Chair of the Lithuanian Ministry of Health Council for Diabetes Prevention, Diagnosis, and Treatment Surveillance. She is also an active member of several professional endocrinology societies across Europe.

Prof. Dzilda Velickiene, MD, PhD, is an endocrinologist, professor, and senior researcher at the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania, and a consultant endocrinologist at University Hospital. She obtained her PhD in 2003, with a doctoral dissertation entitled “Evaluation of the clinical manifestations of endocrine ophthalmopathy, the informativeness of disease activity indicators, and the effectiveness of radiotherapy treatment.” She has more than 20 years of experience in the clinical management of endocrine ophthalmopathy. In parallel, obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus, insulin resistance represents a major part of her research interest and daily clinical practice, encompassing disease prevention, treatment strategies across different clinical phenotypes. These areas are also reflected in her participation in many national and European projects, collaborative studies where she has served as a principal investigator or researcher. Professor Veličkienė has authored multiple peer-reviewed publications in international scientific journals. Her work bridges clinical endocrinology, translational research, and real-world evidence.

Dr. Ieva Lase obtained an MD from Riga Stradiņs University and completed specialty training in endocrinology at the Riga Stradins University Hospital. Since 2012, she has worked as a consultant at the ENETS/ENSAT Centre of Excellence for Neuroendocrine/ Adrenal Tumours at the University Hospital in Uppsala, Sweden. Her main research interests include ectopic Cushing’s syndrome and pulmonary neuroendocrine neoplasms, which will also be the focus of her upcoming PhD thesis defense in 2026.

Dr. Jurgita Gailite is a pediatrician and pediatric endocrinologist with over 15 years of clinical experience. She currently practices at the Children’s Clinical University Hospital and Cēsis Clinic, while also serving as a lecturer at Riga Stradiņš University. She earned her PhD following the defense of her thesis on childhood obesity and metabolic health. Her current research interests focus on pediatric obesity, metabolic syndrome, and associated risk factors, as well as puberty disorders in children. Beyond her clinical and academic roles, she has been instrumental in developing weight management programs for children in Latvia. Furthermore, she is actively involved in public health education, focusing on children’s wellness and the prevention of metabolic diseases.

Jelizaveta Sokolovska completed her MD studies in 2006 and obtained a PhD degree in 2014 on modulation of nitric oxide hyperproduction and expression of glucose transporters in rat models of diabetes in different tissues at the University of Latvia. She is a certified practicing internist and endocrinologist. Postdoctoral research of J. Sokolovska was carried out at the University of Latvia in collaboration with Folkhalsan Research Center in Helsinki, Finland, and focused on mechanisms of complications in type 1 diabetes in humans. Since 2017, she is leading her own research group at the University of Latvia, Faculty of Medicine and Life Sciences (Clinical Research center), and also serves as the head of the Department of Clinical and Personalized Medicine since 2025. Clinical Research center mainly focuses on mechanisms involved in the development of microvascular complications of diabetes (retinopathy, nephropathy). Recently, the main attention of our research was paid to associations of intestinal permeability markers, nutritional factors, and glucose variability in type 1 diabetes, as modifying risk factors of diabetic kidney disease.

Kristine Ducena, MD, PhD, is an Assistant Professor at the University of Latvia, Faculty of Medicine, and an endocrinologist at Pauls Stradiņš Clinical University Hospital in Riga. Her clinical practice covers a wide range of endocrine diseases, with a primary focus on obesity, diabetes, and thyroid disorders. She obtained her PhD in 2011 with a doctoral dissertation titled “Identification of New Molecular Markers for the Diagnosis of Thyroid Cancer.” Dr. Ducena is also a co-author of national clinical guidelines for Type 2 diabetes mellitus, Type 1 diabetes mellitus, and pregnancy.

Paulius Jaruševičius is a PhD candidate specializing in radiology and nuclear medicine at the Hospital of the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences Kauno Klinikos, with a strong focus on advancing diagnostic precision, theranostics, and translational research. His academic and clinical interests center on the integration of advanced imaging technologies to improve disease characterization and patient outcomes. In addition to his clinical practice, he is committed to contributing to high-quality research, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration, and advancing the future development of imaging-driven medicine.

Jane Liis Kaasik MD is a fourth-year endocrinology fellow with a strong clinical and academic interest in adrenal and pituitary disorders. She currently participate as a local sub-investigator in the European Arginine Vasopressin Deficiency (EU-AVP-D) Study, focusing on central diabetes insipidus.

Fifth-year medical student at the University of Tartu, contributing to the development of the Estonian Rare Disease Database at Tartu University Hospital. Involved in several research projects, including pediatric autoimmune thyroiditis and sarcopenia screening.