Today we welcome to our podcasts Dr. Francesca Galbiati who recently joined the California Center for Pituitary Disorders at UCSF, where she cares for patients with pituitary tumors, acromegaly, Cushing’s disease, and related hypothalamic conditions. She is originally from northern Italy and the first in her family to attend college, her path into medicine was driven by a love of science, a desire to work with people, and a passion for understanding how the human body works. She told me she became interested in the pituitary gland during her first year of medical school. She came to UCSF after a chance early-morning meeting with Dr. Lewis Blevins at a Boston conference, and is a strong believer in the centers of excellence model where high-volume, multidisciplinary pituitary care produces measurably better outcomes for patients. No doubt about that!
We had a delightful, candid discussion about delays in diagnosis , noting that pituitary disease remains underrepresented in medical education and that primary care physicians often miss early signs. Among other subjects, we talked abut the promise of AI to aid in early diagnosis, and talked about the new emerging therapies and neuroimaging techniques like photon-counting CT. When I asked her if she could think of one thing that would be a game changer she said “a single reliable biomarker for Cushing’s disease that could simplify diagnosis and reduce the emotional burden on patients.” You don’t want to miss that part of the talk.
Her current research focuses on neuropeptides, particularly oxytocin and vasopressin, and their potential applications in conditions like frontotemporal dementia. Don’t miss this enlightening, wonderful chat with a young, extremely talented physician with a passion for pituitary medicine.
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