With autumn upon us, we are pleased to bring you this pituitary-themed issue of The Endocrinologist. The Editorial Board had great fun thinking of titles for the issue − with pituitary analogies ranging from the conductor or controller to the nerve centre, which were mainly derived from our undergraduate teaching experiences! We finally settled on ‘Pituitary: the master gland’, inspired Dan Bernard, who uses this rather fitting terminology in his interview, which we hope you enjoy.

The feature articles encompass a breadth of basic science discoveries and veterinary and human pituitary-related medical advances. As a researcher into gonadotrophins, I was delighted to see George Bousfield’s article, discussing the importance of gonadotrophin hormone glycosylation, with an emphasis on the discoveries in the world of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) over the last 20–30 years. What he rather humbly omits is that he spearheaded many of the discoveries he describes. These include the ageing-dependent changes in FSH glycosylation, and how these impact FSH receptor engagement and downstream responses, some work that I have had the pleasure of contributing to.

It’s a real treat to have veterinary endocrinology featured in this issue. Rob Fowkes and Christopher Scudder describe comparative endocrine models in their feature. Who knew that some breeds of dog had a higher susceptibility to developing Cushing’s? And there are lessons learnt from an adrenocorticotrophin-secreting pituitary tumour in a miniature schnauzer, no less! It’s a fascinating read, with the accompanying pictures really illustrating the recovery of the schnauzer post-hypophysectomy.

The summer conference round up covering the European Congress of Endocrinology and ENDO reminds me that the Society for Endocrinology BES conference will soon be upon us. It looks like another great scientific line up, and I am looking forward to catching up with colleagues and friends. Who knows, perhaps I’ll even be on the winning team at the early career quiz night this year!

With best wishes

KIM JONAS