Walter Futterweit, MD, Named President of the Androgen Excess and PCOS Society
Mount Sinai’s Walter Futterweit, MD, has been elected president of the Androgen Excess and Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Society
Walter Futterweit, MD, Clinical Professor of Medicine in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Bone Disease at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, has been elected president of the Androgen Excess and Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) Society. His presidency was made official at the eighth Annual Meeting of the AE-PCOS Society this fall, and his term will end in October 2011.
“I am honored to be elected by my peers to lead this prestigious, professional society that is dedicated to improving the quality of life and treatment options for people with PCOS,” said Dr. Futterweit. “During my term, I hope the AE-PCOS society will continue to achieve its goals of advancing research and education in this complex field.”
As a clinical endocrinologist, Dr. Futterweit has dedicated 30 years to researching PCOS, what causes it, and potential treatments. He was the first to define the direct role of the androgen hormone in causing structural changes of PCOS. He also helped develop criteria for diagnosis, defined the correlation of pelvic ultrasound with the clinical features of PCOS, and described the variants of PCOS. He also helped define the role of insulin dynamics in PCOS along with the metabolic complications of the disease. He is currently planning a multi-center study evaluating PCOS based on the cases of 1900 patients he has followed over time.
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, between one in 10 and one in 20 women of childbearing age has PCOS. Women with PCOS often present with high levels of androgens, a type of hormone. They also have missed or irregular periods, pelvic pain, small cysts in their ovaries, acne, and increased hair growth on the face, chest, and other areas of the body. PCOS is the most common cause of female infertility. There is currently no cure for PCOS, but treatment regimens often include birth control, diabetes, and fertility medications and lifestyle modifications.
Authoring more than 40 articles and abstracts, Dr. Futterweit has taken an active role in various international meetings in developing treatment guidelines for PCOS. He has lectured widely to educate and inform clinicians about PCOS and the metabolic and cardiovascular complications associated with it.
Dr. Futterweit is also conducting genetic research to determine the susceptibility of women to develop PCOS. Working with Yaron Tomer, MD, Professor of Medicine in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Bone Disease at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, he has helped define a potential biomarker in the insulin receptor region of chromosome 19. While additional research on the impact of genetics in this disease is needed, the identification of this candidate gene has broad-reaching implications in diagnosing PCOS.
“Dr. Futterweit was among the earliest explorers of the polycystic ovary syndrome as a clinical entity,” said J. Lester Gabrilove, MD, Baumritter Professor of Medicine, Emeritus, Mount Sinai School of Medicine. “His election to the presidency of the society is extremely well-deserved.”
After receiving his medical degree from New York University, Dr. Futterweit completed his internship at Beth Israel Hospital and a residency at Montefiore Hospital in New York. He continued onto a fellowship in Endocrinology at Mount Sinai, where he remained for the rest of his medical career.
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