Dear Women in Thyroidology (WIT) colleagues,

This year WIT will be celebrating our 10th anniversary. This special initiative begun in 2002 to increase participation of women in the ATA was successfully launched under the leadership of Drs. Carole Spencer and Virginia Sarapura. The Goals of WIT have been to recruit and retain more ATA members, increase women's visibility and engagement within ATA, better address women's thyroid health topics, and engage WIT to promote professional and personal interactions. WIT has advanced progress in all areas. Since 2002, there has been an increase in women membership to 38% (up from 10 %), an increase in women as ATA research grant recipients, and new opportunities for networking.

Dr. Honey Reddi

At our recent meeting in Palm Springs, we were fortunate to have Dr. Honey Reddi and her mentors, Dr. Rebecca Bahn, Dr. Norman Eberhardt, and Dr. Al Copland, share her experience and perspectives about the importance of mentorship throughout her career. The discussion was rich and informative as was the opportunity for networking with friends and colleagues. From the feedback provided, we will continue to have invited speakers at future WIT meetings.

I want to encourage our members to become involved with our leadership and committees. Our committees provide a key opportunity to meet colleagues, to network, and to develop leadership skills and expand your national reputation. We encourage our members to nominate colleagues for the upcoming Nominations and Awards Committee elections.

We are interested in expanding our engagement in the ATA and are establishing a WIT committee to plan future initiatives and priorities. We would welcome ideas for programs as well as priority focus areas for development. We encourage you to contact us: through Sharleene Cano, ATA staff person at scano@thyroid.org.

Dr. Frances Carr

It has been my pleasure serving as President of WIT for the last two years and I look forward to our program in Quebec!

Frances Carr, Ph.D.
President, Women in Thyroidology

Please visit http://www.thyroid.org/professionals/join/wit.html for more information on Women in Thyroidology and pictures of women 81st Annual Meeting.