Neuroendo Celebrate | How the British Society for Neuroendocrinology began
To mark a key turning point for both the British Society for Neuroendocrinology (BSN) and our official journal, Journal of Neuroendocrinology (JNE ) this year, 2026, we are sharing the story of our Society and Journal with a series of Neuroendo Celebrate blogs charting their origins and journey through to the present day. In this blog, we take you back to the very beginnings of the BSN.
In the summer of 1985, a group of neuroendocrinologists ready for change gathered in the esteemed halls of Oxford University. Frustrated with the patchy representation of neurobiology at existing societies and meetings and the fragmented and dispersed community, Gareth Leng, Joe Herbert, Stafford Lightman, John Morris, George Fink, Jim Edwardson, Brian Pickering, Iain Robinson and Phil Lowry had met to build a national community of neuroendocrinologists.
The British Neuroendocrine Group was set up by the Oxford steering group and began to hold annual meetings for members, often in collaboration with other scientific societies, in exchange for a small levy.
“Instead of finding ourselves presenting talks to a room full of physiologists waiting for the next talk or too embarrassed to leave after the previous talk, we began to see rooms full of neuroendocrinologists – and such was the level of debate and argument that these sessions started to attract non-neuroendocrinologists too, just to enjoy the bloodsport”
– Gareth Leng
Multidisciplinary, collegiate and mutually supportive, the annual meetings grew in popularity, particularly in how they fostered the careers of young researchers. Spurred on by the success of these early annual meetings, the BNG became formalised as a charity in 1991 and later changed its name to the British Society for Neuroendocrinology. The small initial meetings of the BSN grew each year and in 2022 the BSN organised the International Congress of Neuroendocrinology in Bristol.
Over the years, the Society has grown from 170 registrants at the first meeting to an international membership of 720 in 2026. But with this growth the ethos and spirit of the Society hasn’t changed:
“We are a community that is inherently diverse yet interdependent. Meetings…are the happiest of gatherings, a time to meet old friends, make new friends, and see young scientists grow in confidence and maturity.”
– Gareth Leng
Read full account of BSN’s origins as written by Gareth Leng
