By Janice Miller
Scientific progress does not happen in isolation. It emerges through connection – between disciplines, between perspectives, and across the continuum from discovery to application.
That idea is at the center of a newly formed partnership between Keystone Symposia and the Endocrine Society. Together, the organizations are launching three landmark meetings, taking place in the 2026/2027 Season, that will create space for a different kind of scientific exchange – one that reflects how research advances today. Rather than separating basic and clinical science, these meetings establish opportunities for differing perspectives to inform one another in a bench-to-bedside-and-back format.
In an increasingly complex funding and research environment, the challenges facing endocrine science are rarely confined to a single field. Questions around metabolism, aging, cancer, and cardiometabolic disease intersect with immunology, genetics, and data science. Together, these research areas underpin many of the most pressing health challenges globally – from diabetes and cardiovascular disease to cancer – impacting millions of lives and placing growing strain on healthcare systems worldwide.
Yet too often, the conversations around these topics remain fragmented. At a time when funding pressures and scientific complexity demand more efficient paths to discovery, the collaborative model of Keystone Symposia and Endocrine Society offers a more connected and responsive approach.
It all starts at ENDO 2026 (June 13-26, 2026 | Chicago, IL). Our joint panel, “Keystone Symposia + Endocrine Society: How Partnerships Across the Life Sciences Benefit Researchers,” will take place from 10:45-12:15 pm CT on Tuesday, June 16, and features attendance from Ines Pineda Torra, PhD (Fundacion Progreso y Salud); David D'Alessio, MD (Duke University School of Medicine); Jennifer K. Richer, PhD (University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus); and Roger Cone, PhD (University of Michigan). This session, co-moderated by Keystone Symposia's CEO Jamie Baumgartner and Endocrine Society's Chief Learning Officer Christopher Urena, will highlight the importance of strategic partnerships across the life sciences. More specifically, the panel will address how clinical observations shape research questions, mechanistic insights guide new approaches to care – and how these ideas will come together in three upcoming meetings:
- Hormonal Influences on Immunity and Cancer Across the Lifespan (October 5-8, 2026 | Breckenridge, Colorado) brings together researchers across endocrinology, aging, and oncology to examine how hormonal signaling shapes disease in ways that are often overlooked when studied in isolation.
- Reimagining Diabetes: From Molecular Mechanisms to Transformative Therapies (February 1-4, 2027 | Keystone, CO) connects basic science, clinical research, and industry perspectives to better understand disease drivers and identify new therapeutic strategies.
- Cardiometabolism and Interorgan Crosstalk: Novel Mechanisms and Therapies (February 16-19, 2027 | Breckenridge, Colorado) explores how communication across organ systems influences disease, highlighting emerging insights from genetics, immunology, and computational biology.
Importantly, the panelists will provide on-the-ground insights for how this approach is valuable to the community, including applicable takeaways in the everyday life sciences environment.
By bringing together complementary communities, this partnership enables ideas to be challenged, refined, and extended beyond their original context. It also provides researchers – at every stage – with a more connected view of how discovery evolves. This means not only exposure to new ideas, but access to collaborators, perspectives, and translational insights that can directly shape their work.
Because science does not move in a straight line. It advances through iteration, conversation, and the intersection of scientific disciplines where new insights emerge.
This Keystone Symposia–Endocrine Society collective is built to support exactly that.
