American Thyroid Association Announces 2015 Recipients of Pathophysiology Medal and Distinguished Service Award

By October 18, 2015 March 3rd, 2024 Past News Releases

Leading ATA Scientists honored with prestigious awards

October 19, 2015 — The American Thyroid Association (ATA) will present the John B. Stanbury Thyroid Pathophysiology Medal to Sheue-yann Cheng, Ph.D. and the Distinguished Service Award to Peter A. Kopp, M.D. at the ATA’s 85th Annual Meeting, being held together with the 15th International Thyroid Congress, October 18-23, 2015, in Lake Buena Vista, FL.

Sheue-yann Cheng, Ph.D

The John B. Stanbury Thyroid Pathophysiology Medal is given in recognition of outstanding research contributions to the understanding of thyroid physiology or the pathophysiology of thyroid disease. Sheue-yann Cheng, Ph.D., Senior Investigator in the Laboratory of Molecular Biology at the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, has been a highly productive and innovative researcher in the field of thyroid hormone action for more than 40 years. She was among the first investigators to explore the mechanism of thyroid hormone binding to serum and membrane proteins, which informed early studies of thyroid hormone binding to nuclear receptors. Her later work has also shed light on the role of thyroid hormone binding to cytoplasmic receptor. Dr. Cheng has pioneered the development of innovative models to study thyroid hormone binding and mechanism of action, including in vivo genetic models to study the effects of mutations in the thyroid hormone receptor gene. Her work with these models led to the first recognized links between thyroid hormone receptor gene mutations and cancer. Researchers around the world are using Dr. Cheng’s mouse models to study thyroid hormone receptor biology and activity. She is an international, highly published leader in the field, a sought-after speaker, outstanding mentor, and organizer of numerous national and international conferences.  Dr. Cheng has been a member of the American Thyroid Association since 1980 and has served on the Board of Directors, as well as chaired many committees.  She has co-chaired the program committee and served as faculty on many annual meeting programs.

Peter A. Kopp, M.DPeter A. Kopp, M.D., recipient of the 2015 Distinguished Service Award, is Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine-Endocrinology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL. His research primarily centers on inborn errors of thyroid development and thyroid hormone synthesis, and his clinical activities focus on patients with thyroid dysfunction and thyroid cancer. Dr. Kopp’s outstanding history of service to the American Thyroid Association spans nearly two decades and numerous roles, including serving on the Editorial Board of the journal Thyroid from 1999-2006, as an Associate Editor from 2007-2012, and as Editor-in-Chief since 2013. He was a member of the ATA Board of Directors from 2009-2013 and chaired the Publications Committee from 2010-2012. He has served on the Program Committee and co-chaired the 78th ATA Annual Meeting, and also participated on the Website Advisory Committee, CME and Guidelines Committee, and Research Committee. He has been a speaker at many ATA annual meetings.  Dr. Kopp has dedicated himself to mentoring and training the next generation of endocrinologists and thyroidologists, including serving as Fellowship Director at Northwestern University since 2004.

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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 92nd anniversary, the ATA delivers 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 — through several key endeavors: the publication of 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; and the 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 11,000 patients and public subscribers) 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 co-sponsor the International Thyroid Congress (ITC).  This year the ITC is hosted by the American Thyroid Association at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort.  More information about the 15th ITC can be found at http://www.thyroid.org/itc2015/.