Margaret Pepe, PhD, and Pat Zanzonico, PhD, To Deliver Plenary Lectures at 81st Annual Meeting of American Thyroid Association

By October 24, 2011 March 3rd, 2024 Past News Releases

Falls Church, Virginia. Oct. 24, 2011 – The 81st Annual Meeting of the American Thyroid Association (ATA), scheduled to be held October 26-30, 2011, in Indian Wells, California, will feature two Plenary Lectures delivered by keynote speakers at the forefront of clinical research on thyroid disease. On Thursday, October 27th, Margaret S. Pepe, PhD, Professor, Department of Biostatistics, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, University of Washington (Seattle), will speak on “Successful Implementations of Molecular Markers into Clinical Practice: Steps One Needs to Follow.” The focus of the presentation by Pat Zanzonico, PhD, Association Laboratory Member, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (New York City) on Friday, October 28th will be “Radiation Exposure from the Fukushima Nuclear Reactors: Likely Clinical Consequences.”

Dr. Pepe’s research interests have centered on the evaluation of medical tests and biomarkers for disease screening, diagnosis, prognosis, and risk prediction. Throughout her career she has authored more than 150 papers and a textbook and has developed a substantial body of statistical methodology for evaluation tests and biomarkers. Her presentation at the ATA Annual Meeting will emphasize critical factors in study design for biomarker evaluation, which has been a primary focus of her work with the Early Detection Research Network sponsored by the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Pepe will describe the series of stages required for biomarker development, including discovery, validation, and implementation in clinical practice. The intended clinical application of a biomarker must drive decision-making throughout the study design process, with specific criteria defined to ensure optimal clinical utility of the biomarker. Dr. Pepe will present ideas and guidance in the context of cancer diagnosis from fine needle aspirates of thyroid nodules.

Dr. Zanzonico’s biomedical research focuses on the development of radionuclide-based methods for detecting and localizing tumor hypoxia, immune effector-cell trafficking, patient-specific dosimetry for radionuclide therapies, and small-animal and molecular imaging. He is an Attending Physicist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Co-Head of the Center’s Nuclear Medicine Research and Small-Animal Imaging Laboratories, and Chairman of the Center’s Committee on Radiation. He is on the Editorial Board and is past-Associate Editor of the Journal of Nuclear Medicine. Dr. Zanzonico is also a Consultant to the International Atomic Energy Agency and a member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Advisory Committee on Medical Uses of Isotopes. Dr. Zanzonico’s presentation relates to the recent earthquake and subsequent tsunami in northern Japan that caused severe damage to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power facility, compromising its structural integrity, disabling the reactor’s cooling system, and resulting in a significant release of radioactivity into the environment. He will discuss radiation exposure rate estimates and likely radiation doses received by the residents of the area surrounding the nuclear plant, and how those compare to doses associated with previous nuclear accidents at Chernobyl and Three Mile Island. Dr. Zanzonico will review the acute and possible long-term health effects of the release of radioactivity from the Fukushima nuclear reactors.

About the ATA Annual Meeting
The 81st Annual Meeting of the American Thyroid Association will be held October 26-30, 2011 at the Renaissance Esmeralda Resort & Spa in Indian Wells (near Palm Springs), California. This four day creative and innovative scientific program, chaired by Drs. Anthony Hollenberg and Martha Zeiger, has carefully balanced clinical and basic science sessions on the latest advances in thyroidology. The ATA meeting is designed to offer continuing education for endocrinologists, internists, surgeons, basic scientists, nuclear medicine scientists, pathologists, endocrine fellows and nurses, physician assistants and other health care professionals. Visit www.thyroid.org for more information.

About the ATA
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 individual membership organization with over 1,400 members from 43 countries around the world. Celebrating its 88th anniversary, ATA delivers its mission through several key endeavors: the publication of highly regarded monthly journals, THYROID, Clinical Thyroidology and Clinical Thyroidology for Patients; 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. Visit www.thyroid.org for more information.

Media Contact
Bobbi Smith
Executive Director
American Thyroid Association
Email: bsmith@thyroid.org
Phone: 703-772-2462

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