Newswise — October 3, 2017—The American Thyroid Association (ATA) is set to launch its 87th Annual Meeting on October 18‒22, 2017, in Victoria, British Columbia. Key opinion leaders, thyroid specialists, clinical and basic researchers, and young trainees will gather for four exciting and information-filled days of symposia, scientific presentations, and discussions on the latest advances in thyroidology and clinical management of thyroid diseases. Nearly 1200 attendees have already registered for this outstanding educational and networking opportunity. A record-setting 519 regular and late-breaking abstracts have been accepted.
Three leaders in the thyroid field, Carmelo Nucera, MD, PhD (Harvard Univ.), Gregory Brent, MD (UCLA), and Julie Ann Sosa, MD (Duke Univ.), will present the opening session on Wednesday evening, “A Year in Thyroidology,” in which they will discuss the top recent papers in basic, clinical, and surgical thyroidology.
Weiping Teng, MD, PhD, of First Affiliated Hospital, China Medical University, Shenyang, will give one of two plenary lectures. His topic, “Effect of Iodine Intake on Thyroid Disorders: Learning from China,” describes the results of the Chinese government’s initial implementation of universal salt iodization in 1999, intended to reduce the high iodine deficiency disorders prevalent across the country (except in Shanghai), and its subsequent reduction of the concentration of salt iodine when excessive iodine intake became a serious problem in many provinces. Dr. Teng provides comparisons with CDC results from the US and some from WHO for pregnant women.
On day three of the meeting, the plenary lecture, “Understanding How Breaches in Immune Tolerance Lead to Autoimmune Thyroid Disease (AITD),” will be given by John C. Cambier, PhD, of the Department of Immunology and Microbiology, University of Colorado School of Medicine. Dr. Cambier and his research team are studying the thyroid antigen-reactive B cells in the peripheral blood of both recent-onset and long-standing AITD patients.
The ATA will reveal the recipient of the 2017 Van Meter Award the first morning of the meeting, and the winner, recognized for outstanding contributions to research on the thyroid gland or related subjects, will present the Van Meter Award Lecture. The Paul Starr Award lecturer is Quan-Yang Duh, MD, recognized for his outstanding contributions to clinical thyroidology, and Julie Ann Sosa, MD will deliver the 2017 Lewis E. Braverman Lectureship with a talk entitled "Re-Telling the Story About Thyroid Cancer – Rising Incidence, Mortality, and Maybe an Explanation.” Yuri Nikiforov, MD, PhD is this year’s Sidney H. Ingbar Awardee speaking on "Genomic Evolution of Thyroid Nodules and Cancer – New Answers to Old Questions." The ATA will also present the John B. Stanbury Thyroid Pathophysiology Medal to James A. Fagin, MD, and the 2017 Distinguished Service Award to Bryan R. Haugen, MD, both of whom are past presidents of the Society.
The program highlights presentations by the seven recent ATA Research Grant recipients. This year’s awardees are investigating research topics that include the genetics of advanced thyroid cancer, mouse modeling of medullary thyroid carcinoma, and the role of the renal sodium/iodide symporter in iodide metabolism and thyroid function. See the ATA website for full details https://www.thyroid.org/professionals/research-grants/thyroid-research-recipients-2017/. In addition to the plenary and award lectures at the Annual Meeting, many specialized symposia, panel and small workshop educational formats will be offered.
Dr. John Morris, President of the American Thyroid Association, remarks, "ATA meeting attendees will have the opportunity to network with clinicians and investigators, colleagues and newcomers, making scientific and professional connections that will last throughout their careers. Given that we will be located in one of the most beautiful places in the world, it is a meeting not to be missed."
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The American Thyroid Association (ATA) is the leading worldwide organization dedicated to the advancement, understanding, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of thyroid disorders and thyroid cancer. ATA is an international membership medical society with over 1,700 members from 43 countries around the world. Celebrating its 94th anniversary, the ATA continues to deliver its mission of being devoted to thyroid biology and to the prevention and treatment of thyroid disease through excellence in research, clinical care, education, and public health. These efforts are carried out via 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 online through Clinical Thyroidology for the Public and extensive, authoritative explanations of thyroid disease and thyroid cancer in both English and Spanish. The ATA website serves as the clinical resource for patients and the public who look for reliable information on the Internet. Every fifth year, the American Thyroid Association joins with the Latin American Thyroid Society, the European Thyroid Association, and the Asia and Oceania Thyroid Association to cosponsor the International Thyroid Congress (ITC).
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