{"id":165165,"date":"2024-03-14T11:43:05","date_gmt":"2024-03-14T10:43:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=165165"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:27:13","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:27:13","slug":"the-endocrine-system-is-complex-and-thats-what-gets-layal-chaker-going","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2024\/03\/14\/the-endocrine-system-is-complex-and-thats-what-gets-layal-chaker-going\/","title":{"rendered":"The endocrine system is complex \u2013 and that\u2019s what gets Layal Chaker going"},"content":{"rendered":"

Layal Chaker revels in the complexity of the human endocrine system. After reading the Cairo Trilogy<\/em> by Naguib Mahfouz, she realised she loved complex phenomena, which underpinned her decision to pursue internal medicine\/endocrinology.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLeroy Verbeet<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

At the Dutch Endocrine Meeting in Eindhoven, Layal Chaker was recently voted onto the board of the Dutch Association for Endocrinology. She has been coming to the conference for years. While pursuing her PhD, she presented a poster at the conference with details about her research. Later on, she was invited to give a talk at the young investigators session. Now she sits on the board. Chaker says it is \u2018an honour\u2019. \u201cI get to be involved with the ins and outs of the association.\u201d It is an additional responsibility alongside her work as a clinical epidemiologist, on the one hand, and as a doctor of internal medicine and endocrinologist on the other. \u201cSomeone once gave me the advice that if my work wasn\u2019t also slightly my hobby, I\u2019d better find a different job\u201d, Chaker says of about her busy schedule, \u201cbut I enjoy it enough to be able to do it with complete and utter conviction.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gradually, Chaker discovered that internal medicine is where her true passion lies. Initially, she wanted to become an ophthalmologist, but choosing that path would not have benefited either her or her patients: \u201cI\u2019ve got two left hands. You don\u2019t want me touching your eyes.\u201d During her medical internships, a colleague pointed out to her that she was a classic internal medicine type. \u201cThat\u2019s someone who likes complex phenomena; a nerd who likes to do thorough research and talk to people. I didn\u2019t see it as clearly myself, but that colleague turned out to be right: I am a nerd.\u201d<\/p>\n\t

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Number of books a year<\/strong>: 4<\/p>\n

Last book read:<\/strong> Leaders Eat Last <\/em>by Simon Sinek<\/p>\n

Favourite genre:<\/strong> \u201cRealism, not absurdism or science fiction. And I love Russian literature, which has a nice slow pace.\u201d<\/p>\n

Principal motivation:<\/strong> These days, being able to implement things in daily life and work. It used to be reading about other people and cultures. Reading helps us understand people and empathise better.<\/p>\n\n\t<\/div>\n

Complexity, please<\/h2>

Somehow, Chaker knew she enjoyed complexity. It became clear to her at grammar school while reading the Cairo Trilogy <\/em>by the Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz. The story consists of three books (Palace Walk<\/em>, Palace of Desire<\/em> and Sugar Street<\/em>) that follow the family of a wealthy patriarch in pre-World War II Egypt. The trilogy is both a personal portrait of a family and a story about the sociopolitical life of three generations in Egypt. The themes are expansive. \u201cIt\u2019s about the British pulling out of Egypt and the influence of the West in the Middle East \u2013 something that\u2019s equally relevant now. It deals with the relationship between religion and science, women\u2019s rights and colonialism, with universal themes of maternal love, family and sibling relationships also coming into play.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Cairo Trilogy <\/em>gave Chaker insight into her own nature. \u201cWhile reading, I realised I wasn\u2019t the kind of person who enjoyed reading a straightforward book on the beach. The book made me realise, even more so than when I read Harry Mulisch\u2019s The Discovery of Heaven<\/em>, that I revel in layers and complexity.\u201d<\/p>\n

And if any topic is complex, it is hormones, an endocrinologist\u2019s area of focus. \u201cHormones are produced somewhere in the body and then enter your bloodstream, so they get everywhere else. They have effects throughout your body, but what those effects are is different for everyone\u201d, Chaker says, briefly providing a summary of the endocrine system.<\/p>\n\n\t

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Read more<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t