Italian Researchers Win Endocrine Society’s 2026 Endocrine Images Art Competition

07 May 20264 min read0 viewsVerified Feed

GIST (Key Takeaways)

Anna Pilatone and Gabriella Milan won the Endocrine Society’s 2026 Endocrine Images Art Competition for their microscopy image of a pre-adipocyte cell (left). Pilatone and Milan are research biologists in the Endocrine and Metabolic Lab at the Department of Medicine, University of Padova, and at the Center for the Study and Integrated Treatment of Obesity, University Hospital of Padova in Padova, Italy.
The art competition celebrates the beauty of endocrine science as seen through the lens of a microscope. This year’s 29 entries were judged by a panel of Society members who based their assessments on the aesthetic value of the images and their significance to endocrine research.
Pilatone and Milan’s entry is titled “Pre-adipocyte Intriguing Scaffold.” Adipose tissue, initially described simply as body fat, has been recognized as a very complex endocrine organ characterized by different depots and composed of many cell types, including white, brown, and beige adipocytes. Dysregulation of these cells causes pathological adipose tissue expansion, leading to obesity and metabolic complications such as diabetes and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease.