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RESEARCH BY ATA MEMBERS |
To indicate the wide-ranging importance of thyroid research,
here is a sampling of ATA members’ research accomplishments.
- Americans develop an estimated 250,000 thyroid nodules each
year. Clinical research headed by ATA members has led to cost-effective
methods for screening thyroid nodules to detect malignancies.
Other landmark studies by ATA members have led to the development
of powerful new tools for monitoring thyroid cancer patients.
- Research conducted decades ago by ATA members led to mandatory
screening of newborns for congenital hypothyroidism, and to early
treatment that has prevented mental retardation in thousands.
Today, pediatric research seeks to explain the connections between
maternal and infant thyroid conditions and their long-term effects
on babies’ cognitive development.
- ATA research grants supporting groundbreaking work in brain
development and thyroid hormone function have helped investigators
collect the initial data required for successful grant applications
to the National Institutes of Health.
- With ATA support, a promising Graves’ disease genetic
research study of 100 families may lead to improved prognosis
and preventive treatments. Graves’ disease is an autoimmune
disorder that runs in families and is thought to affect 1% of
the population.
- A decade of research devoted to Graves’ ophthalmopathy
has yielded greater understanding of the cellular processes involved
in this debilitating eye disease, and led to the study of an experimental
drug that may prove useful for treatment and prevention.
- Pioneering ATA members’ work explained the thyroid-pituitary
feedback mechanism. A cutting-edge new study focuses on how thyrotropin-releasing
hormone interacts with its receptor to regulate cellular function
in the eyes, heart, pancreas, and central nervous system.
- ATA members are using their scientific expertise and public
health research findings to work for the global elimination of
iodine deficiency and to study the effects of external head and
neck radiation and nuclear fallout on the thyroid gland.
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