Newswise — November 1, 2019—The American Thyroid Association (ATA) is pleased to announce that the Distinguished Service Award recipient will be Dr. Robert C. Smallridge. He is Professor of Medicine at Mayo Medical School and the Alfred D. and Audrey M. Petersen Professor of Cancer Research.  He is a Deputy Director in the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center and has served as the Chair of the Division of Endocrinology, the Director of Research, and as a member of the  Board of Governors.

The Distinguished Service Award recognizes an ATA member who has made important and continuing contributions to the Association. The award will be conferred during the Presentation of Awards, beginning at 7:30 pm on November 1 during the ATA Annual Meeting, held this year from October 30 to November 1, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois.

Prior to joining Mayo Clinic, Dr. Smallridge retired as a Colonel after 23 years in the US Army Medical Corps. He served as Director of the Department of Medicine at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, as Chair of the Endocrinology Division at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, and as the Endocrinology Consultant to the Attending Physician for members of the United States Congress.

Dr. Smallridge is a member who has made important and continuing contributions to the Association. Dr. Smallridge is receiving the Distinguished Service Award in recognition of his more than four decades of service to the organization. He has served on many committees including the Membership, Education, Publications, Research, Awards, Development, and Nominating. Committees Additionally, he was Chair of the Finance & Audit and the History & Archives Committees and chaired the practice guidelines task force for anaplastic thyroid carcinoma. Leadership positions have included two terms on the Board of Directors, a 5-year term as Treasurer, and in 2014-15 was President of the American Thyroid Association.

Dr. Smallridge’s tremendous commitment of time and energy to the Association over the past 40 years makes him a very worthy recipient for the highly sought after and prestigious Distinguished Service Award.

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The American Thyroid Association® (ATA) is dedicated to transforming thyroid care through clinical excellence, education, scientific discovery and advocacy in a collaborative community. ATA® is an international professional medical society with over 1,700 members from 70 countries around the world. Celebrating its 96th anniversary, the ATA® delivers its mission — transforming thyroid care through clinical excellence, education, scientific discovery and advocacy in a collaborative community — through several key endeavors:
·      The publication of the highly regarded professional journals Thyroid®, Clinical Thyroidology®, and VideoEndocrinology
·      Annual scientific meetings
·      Biennial clinical and research symposia
·      Research grant programs for young investigators
·      Support of online professional, public, and patient educational programs
·      Development of guidelines for clinical management of thyroid disease and thyroid cancer

The ATA® promotes thyroid awareness and information through its online Clinical Thyroidology® for the Public (distributed free of charge to over 12,000 patients and public subscribers) and extensive, authoritative explanations of thyroid disease and thyroid cancer in both English and Spanish. The ATA® website www.thyroid.org serves as a bonafide clinical resource for patients and the public who look for reliable information on the Internet.

Meeting Link: American Thyroid Association’s 89th Annual Meeting