Univesity College Dublin
DEPARTMENT OF ENDOCRINOLOGY
St. Vincent's Hospital, Elm Park, Dublin 4, Ireland.
Telephone: +353-1-209 4407 Fax: +353-1-209 4981

Facilities within the Department

The Department of Endocrinology and Diabetes Mellitus provides a clinical in-patient and out-patient service for patients with disorders of the endocrine glands, including patients with diabetes mellitus. Other conditions covered by this service include under-activity, over-activity and tumour formation of the thyroid, parathyroid, pituitary and adrenal glands, ovaries and testes. The Diabetes Centre provides a routine clinic In-Patient and Out-Patient service for over 2,000 patients.

In addition to education and counselling for patients with diabetes and their families, the Centre also provides consultations for hospital nurses, general practice nurses and public health nurses. This year in association with the Department of Preventative Medicine, the Diabetes Centre was involved in a "Diabetes Training Day" for medical professionals which covered the essentials in provision of service for diabetes patients. The service provided in the Diabetes Centre includes an emergency service both over the telephone and on a drop-in basis. Professor T.J. McKenna, Dr. A. Heffernan and Nurse Jenny Dunbar participate in the UCD Diploma in Diabetes Course held in Kuwait.

The Endocrine Laboratory provides a busy service in the area of steroid hormone determination and pituitary hormone assessment. The Laboratory also received a grant to establish a national service for the measurement of insulin like growth factor 1 (IGF1) which is useful in the assessment of growth hormone deficiency, growth hormone excess, i.e. acromegaly and gigantism, and the response to the treatment of these disorders. The research interests include study of the control of the different steroid hormones produced by the adrenal cortex. All of the studies on the control of adrenal steroidgenesis are undertaken in conjunction with Dr. Sean Cunningham of the Biochemistry Department and in collaboration with the National Kidney Transplant Team, Beaumont Hospital.