Dr Jan Idkowiak MD, PhD, MRCPCH

Dr Jan Idkowiak

Department of Metabolism and Systems Science
Clinical Associate Professor in Paediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes
Honorary Consultant in Paediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes

Contact details

Address
University Âé¶¹¾«Ñ¡
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Jan is Clinical Associate Professor in Paediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes, based at Metabolism and Systems Science (MSS) and at the Department of Endocrinology at the .

Jan is Programme Director of the (Paediatrics) and he also leads the West Midlands Childhood Obesity (Complications of Excess Weight, CEW) Service at Birmingham Children’s Hospital.  

His main research focuses on androgen metabolism. His main interest is how children and adolescents with androgen excess conditions, such as premature adrenarche and Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), develop metabolic complications. His other key interest are inborn errors of steroidogenesis, in particular conditions affecting androgen generation. He combines clinical phenotyping and genetic analysis with in vitro functional studies to enhance our understanding of the molecular basis of androgen biosynthesis.

Qualifications

  • 2019: Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT), General Medical Council, UK
  • 2015: PhD in Molecular Medicine, University Âé¶¹¾«Ñ¡
  • 2014: Member of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Childhood (MRCPCH)
  • 2007: MD in Medicine/ Developmental Biology, University of Halle-Wittenberg, Germany
  • 2005: Medical State Exam (equivalent to MBChB), University of Halle-Wittenberg, Germany

Biography

Jan qualified in Medicine from the University of Halle-Wittenberg, Germany, in 2005. He obtained an MD with distinction (‘summa cum laude’) on molecular studies discovering novel mechanisms of axial patterning and head formation in mammals in 2007 from the University of Halle-Wittenberg, Germany. From 2005-2009, Jan was trained in Paediatrics and Paediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes at the Children’s Hospital at the University of Dresden, Germany. In 2009 he obtained a Research Training Fellowship from the European Society for Paediatric Endocrinology (ESPE) to study adrenarche at the Centre for Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism at the University Âé¶¹¾«Ñ¡ under supervision for Prof Wiebke Arlt. In 2011, Jan was successful in obtaining an MRC-funded Research Training Fellowship to do his PhD in the same group in Birmingham. His PhD entitled ‘Molecular Regulation of Adrenal Androgen Biosynthesis’ was awarded in 2015. After completing his training in General Paediatrics, Jan joined the Department of Metabolism and Systems Science in 2017 as a NIHR-funded Clinical Lecturer to expand his studies on androgen metabolism in children. He was successful in obtaining a prestigious Starter Grant for Clinical Lecturers from the Academy of Medical Sciences, UK, in 2018.

Jan was appointed as Clinical Associated Professor at the IMSR in 2022, when he also became Programme Director of the Birmingham NIHR/ Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Facility (Paediatrics) in 2022, a dedicated unit based at the Birmingham Children’s Hospital delivering early-phase/ experimental medicine studies in children and young people.

Teaching

  • MBChB – Endocrinology
  • Postgraduate Teaching in Paediatrics – Paediatric Endocrinology
  • OSCEs – Senior Examiner
  • Senior Academic Tutor, BCH Teaching Academy

Postgraduate supervision

Jan is interested in supervising medical students studying for intercalated degrees, as well as doctoral research students in the following areas:

  • Adrenal disorders in Paediatrics
  • Metabolic Dysfunction and Childhood Androgen Excess Conditions
  • Other aspects of Clinical Paediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes

If you are interested in studying any of these subject areas please contact Jan on the contact details above.

Research

During his PhD, Jan has examined various monogenic disorders associated with androgen excess and deficiency. Through a combination of in vivo and in vitro molecular studies, Jan has characterised enzymes and co-factors of the androgenic pathway, in particular the electron donor P450 oxidoreductase (POR), cytochrome B5 (CYB5A) and the central androgen producing enzyme P450 cytochrome (CYP) 17A1. In addition, Jan has explored the clinical and molecular role of sulfation and desulfation of the principal androgen precursor dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) by examining enzymes and co-factor PAPSS synthases and Steroid Sulfatase. As key methodologies, Jan employs mass-spectrometry steroid profiling as a central diagnostic tool to unravel disease signatures of androgen deficiency and excess conditions.

Currently, Jan is conducting clinical studies to look into the metabolic risk profile of children with common androgen excess conditions, such as premature adrenarche (PA) and adolescent polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). He is Chief investigator of the DUCHESS Study (Defining Disorders Underlying Childhood Androgen Excess), a deep phenotyping study in children with PA and PCOS. Jan employs multi-steroid hormone profiling and global untargeted metabolomics combined with a clinical deep phenotyping approach to discover to what extend idiopathic androgen excess conditions pre-dispose to metabolic risk.

Other activities

  • Since 2022: Member of the Working Group ‘Ens@t Paeds’, European Network for the Study of Adrenal Tumours
  • Since 2022: Member of the e-Learning Committee, European Society of Paedaitric Endocrinology (ESPE)
  • Since 2021: Member of the Working Group ‘Differences of Sexual Development’, European Society of Paediatric Endocrinology (ESPE)
  • Since 2016: Steering Group Member of the Centre for Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism (CEDAM), Birmingham Health Partners
  • 2016-2019: Trainee Representative for Birmingham, Intercalating Academic Training Group (ICAT), Universities Birmingham, Warwick and Keele
  • Since 2016: Member of the Scientific Committee of the Birmingham Children’s Hospital Research Foundation

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Riedmeier, M, Antonini, S, Benoit, C, Deal, CL, Martin, F, Figueiredo, BC, Nazli Gonc, E, Härtel, C, Idkowiak, J, Kurlbaum, M, de Krijger, R, Ribeiro, RC, del Rivero, J, Schlegel, P-G, Thompson, LDR, Yalcin, B & Wiegering, V 2024, '', Pediatric Hematology Oncology Journal.

Idkowiak, J, Smyth, A, Mundy, L, Wanaguru, A, Gleeson, H & Högler, W 2022, '', Clinical Endocrinology, pp. 1-9.

Pemberton, JS, Kershaw, M, Dias, R, Idkowiak, J, Mohamed, Z, Saraff, V, Barrett, TG, Krone, R & Uday, S 2021, '', Pediatric Diabetes, vol. 22, no. 2, pp. 249-260.

Sun, M, Mueller, JW, Gilligan, LC, Taylor, AE, Shaheen, F, Noczyńska, A, T'Sjoen, G, Denvir, L, Shenoy, S, Fulton, P, Cheetham, TD, Gleeson, H, Rahman, M, Krone, NP, Taylor, NF, Shackleton, CHL, Arlt, W & Idkowiak, J 2021, '', European Journal of Endocrinology , vol. 185, no. 5, pp. 729-741.

Pemberton, J, Kershaw, M, Dias, R, Idkowiak, J, Mohamed, Z, Saraff, V, Barrett, T, Krone, R & Uday, S 2020, '', Pediatric Diabetes.

Idkowiak, J, Elhassan, YS, Mannion, P, Smith, K, Webster, R, Saraff, V, Barrett, TG, Shaw, NJ, Krone, N, Dias, RP, Kershaw, M, Kirk, JM, Högler, W, Krone, RE, O'Reilly, MW & Arlt, W 2019, '', European Journal of Endocrinology , vol. 180, no. 3, pp. 213-221.

Storbeck, K-H, Schiffer, L, Baranowski, E, Chortis, V, Prete, A, Barnard, L, Gilligan, L, Taylor, A, Idkowiak, J, Arlt, W & Shackleton, C 2019, '', Endocrine Reviews, vol. 40, no. 6, pp. 1605-1625.

Elhassan, Y, Idkowiak, J, Asia, M, Gleeson, H, Webster, R, Arlt, W, O'reilly, M & Smith, KA 2018, '', The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism, vol. 103, no. 3, pp. 1214-1223.

Mueller, JW, Idkowiak, J, Gesteira, TF, Vallet, C, Hardman, R, van den Boom, J, Dhir, V, Knauer, SK, Rosta, E & Arlt, W 2018, '', Journal of Biological Chemistry, vol. 293, no. 25, pp. 9724-9735.

Arlt, W & Idkowiak, J 2018, '', Hormone Research in Paediatrics, vol. 89, pp. 292–310.

Arlt, W, Torchen, L, Idkowiak, J, Fogel, N, O'Neil, D, Shackleton, C & Dunaif, A 2016, '', Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, vol. 101, no. 5, pp. 2069-2075.

Idkowiak, J, Taylor, AE, Subtil, S, O'neil, DM, Vijzelaar, R, Dias, RP, Amin, R, Barrett, TG, Shackleton, CHL, Kirk, JMW, Moss, C & Arlt, W 2016, '', Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, vol. 101, no. 6, pp. 2545-53.

Oostdijk, W, Idkowiak, J, Mueller, JW, House, PJ, Taylor, AE, O'reilly, MW, Hughes, BA, De Vries, MC, Kant, SG, Santen, GWE, Verkerk, AJMH, Uitterlinden, AG, Wit, JM, Losekoot, M & Arlt, W 2015, '', Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, vol. 100, no. 4, pp. E672-E680.

Review article

Balagamage, C, Arshad, A, Elhassan, YS, Ben Said, W, Krone, RE, Gleeson, H & Idkowiak, J 2023, '', Clinical Endocrinology.

Subramanian, A, Idkowiak, J, Toulis, K, Thangaratinam, S, Arlt, W & Nirantharakumar, K 2021, '', European Journal of Endocrinology, vol. 184, no. 1, pp. 51–64.