In May, the endocrinology community gathered in Barcelona, Spain, for the European Congress of Endocrinology 2018 (ECE2018). More than 3,000 delegates, from 90 different countries, attended 4 days of talks and lively debates organized by the European Society for Endocrinology.

Gerald Shulman from the Yale School of Medicine, USA, gave a fascinating plenary talk about his group’s research on the cellular mechanisms linking insulin and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Other interesting plenary sessions discussed the role of gonadotropin-releasing hormone-expressing neurons in fertility and how retinal assessments could be used to identify patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus who are at risk of developing Alzheimer disease.

The European Hormone Medal winner, Ilpo Huhtaniemi (Imperial College London, UK), gave an insightful presentation on the highlights of his research career and his work in the hypothalamic–pituitary–gonadal axis. Additionally, Philippe Chanson (University Paris-Sud, France), winner of the Clinical Endocrinology Trust Award, gave an interesting talk about growth hormone treatments.

Of the many excellent symposiums, those on endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) were particularly popular, including an excellent talk from Cheryl Walker (Texas A&M University, USA) on the effect of EDCs on the epigenome in relation to adult onset diseases. Another session that generated much interest was the symposium on disorders of sexual development. Julie Bakker’s (Liège Université, Belgium) presentation on the brain structure and function of prepubertal children and adolescents diagnosed with gender dysphoria was a highlight for me.

The ‘for and against’ debates were also popular and the debate on whether anti-Müllerian hormone is a primary marker of fertility was well attended. Another debate that drew the attention of many delegates was on whether the European Commission’s guidelines on EDCs are sufficient to protect human health.

Overall, the meeting provided a great environment for endocrinologists from all disciplines to discuss their research and form new collaborations. We look forward to ECE2019, which will be held in Lyon, France.