Charles H. Emerson, M.D. President, American Thyroid Association

President's Update
December 2017

In October and November of this year our now Past President, John Morris, and our current Secretary/Chief Operating Officer, Victor Bernet, delivered their last reports for 2017. John's report contained a marvelous essay on his years as an ATA member and the value of ATA membership. To me, the most prominent aspect of John's memories were his references to past and present ATA members and staff. These people, and others unnamed, became and remain friends, colleagues, mentors, mentees, and astute facilitators. The adjective and noun, astute facilitators, refers to the ATA staff lead by Bobbi Smith and ably supported by Adonia Coates, Sharleene Cano, Kelly Hoff, Josette Paige, and Danielle Waldman. The tremendous work they have done has been lauded for some time. What is less recognized, and which has become more apparent to me since becoming President-Elect and now President, is what a resource they are in terms of institutional memory, caring familiarity with the ATA's membership, and wise but not overbearing counsel.

As we read John's report, many of us were able to reminisce vicariously about our own ATA experience. In my case the memories extended not only to ATA members and experiences, but also those with the Asia and Oceania Thyroid Association (AOTA), European Thyroid Association (ETA), and Latin American Thyroid Society (LATS). Without membership in the ATA these would be lacking. Moreover, without our global and national collaborations with these societies, including most recently, the Endocrine Society, The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, the American Association of Endocrine Surgeons, the European Association of Nuclear Medicine, the Society for Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNIMMI), the Alliance for Patient Education, Thyroid Cancer Survivors' Association (ThyCa) and the BITE ME CANCER Association, the ATA's stature and influence would be greatly diminished.

As the ATA elections approached in 2016 I stated that the President has an obligation to represent the ATA in its most favorable light, to nurture, challenge and be a voice for its members at the highest level, and to have a vision, consistent with the tenets of the ATA but arising from within. We now have welcomed new members to the ATA Board, President-Elect Elizabeth Pearce, Directors Douglas Forrest, Thomas Giordano, and Megan Haymart as Directors and 83 new ATA members since our Victoria meeting. I congratulate them in their new responsibilities and as new members and ask their support and advise, along with other members, in upholding these ideals. At the same time that I upheld these ideals for the office of President I eschewed "preoccupation with the administrative complexity dealt with so ably by our Executive Director and Secretary/COO". This last disclaimer was perhaps premature as I become increasingly aware of the many ATA initiatives and programs and my need to stay abreast of them. Nonetheless, in future Signal issues I hope to focus on the basic scientific, ethical, and philosophical underpinnings of the ATA and like non-profit societies, and to conclude by selectively reinforcing some major aspects of ongoing and future ATA activities.

This brings us to Dr. Bernet's update in the November issue of Signal. In it he reminded the membership that the ATA will be holding a Satellite Symposium in concert with the Endocrine Society on Friday, March 16, McCormick Place West, Chicago IL. This symposium, entitled "The Spectrum of Thyroid Cancer, from Surveillance to Systemic Therapy" will be presented by an outstanding faculty lead by meeting Co-chairs Manisha Shah and Mike Tuttle and has already attracted 176 registrants. We hope many of you will join them. At the same time planning for the 2018 Annual Meeting from October 3-7 in Washington, DC, with Program Committee Chairs Mabel Ryder and Gregory Randolph, is well along but not so far that suggestions to the committee are not welcome.

A challenging task of the President-Elect is to appoint Committee members for her or his coming Presidential year. We now have 21 Committees and 4 Task Forces as well as other working groups. President-Elects aim for perfection and rapid accomplishment of this duty, ultimately recognizing that they never quite realize the intended goal. That said I encourage all of our 2017-18 committee members to take advantage of the opportunity to influence ATA programs and policies and to be open to the suggestions of all members. I join the ATA board and staff in wishing you, and most particularly the new Guidelines and Statement Committee chaired by Jacqueline Jonklaas and Anna Sawka, a very enjoyable and successful year.


Charles H. Emerson, M.D.
President, American Thyroid Association