A diverse community of physicians, researchers, and healthcare professionals will gather September 21-25, 2016, in Denver, Colorado, to participate in and benefit from the wealth of scientific and medical expertise and educational, networking, and professional development opportunities available during the 86th Annual Meeting of the American Thyroid Association.
The scientific program offers a balance of clinical and basic science sessions on the latest advances in thyroidology, presented by pioneering researchers and key opinion leaders. The ATA Program Committee, led by Peter Arvan, MD, PhD and Stephanie Fish, MD, have crafted an array of symposia, “meet-the-professor” workshops, interactive sessions, poster review opportunities, and oral abstract presentations that capture the latest basic science and clinical research and its relevance for disease management and patient care.
Among the many valuable symposia on the program is the Peter Laurberg Memorial Symposium, entitled “Iodine in Thyroid Disorders,” chaired by Elizabeth N. Pearce, MD, Boston University School of Medicine. Stig Andersen, MD, University Hospital Aalborg, will deliver the opening talk: “Iodine and the Thyroid: The Contributions of Peter Laurberg.”
Charna Dibner, PhD, University Hospital of Geneva, will deliver the Plenary Lecture entitled “Thyroid Circadian Timing: Roles in Physiology and Thyroid Malignancies.” A lively discussion of the “Genetics of the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Thyroid Axis” will be the focus of a Discussion-Debate session led by Marco Medici, MD, Erasmus Medical Center, and Peter N. Taylor, MD, Cardiff University School of Medicine.
Several sessions will feature presentations on low-risk thyroid cancer, including a symposium on the topic chaired by Zubair W. Baloch, MD, PhD, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. As part of the symposium, Anna M. Sawka, MD, PhD, Toronto General Hospital, will deliver a talk entitled “Clinical Management of Low-Risk Thyroid Cancer. In a separate Discussion-Debate, Henry Burch, MD, Walter Reed National Naval Medical Center, and Megan Haymart, MD, University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, will focus on “Thyroid Nodules and Cancer: Assumptions, Approaches and Misconceptions.”
Presentations will address various aspects of thyroid cancer metastases. In two separate Discussion-Debates sessions, Gerard M. Doherty, MD, Boston University School of Medicine, will speak on “Central Neck Dissection,” and Ian Ganly, MD, PhD, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and Dhaval Patel, MD, National Cancer Institute, will debate “ATA Guidelines: How Much Surgery Is Enough?” As part of the Symposium chaired by Stephanie Fish, MD entitled “Radioactive Iodine in the Treatment of Thyroid Cancer,” Sophie Leboulleux, MD, Institut Gustave Roussy, will present the “Challenges of Thyroid Imaging.”
Advances in understanding the biology of thyroid cancer are highlighted in the symposium “Thyroid Cancer-Immunity Nexus,” featuring the presentation “Tumor-Associated Macrophages” by Mabel M. Ryder, MD, an endocrinologist in Rochester, MN, affiliated with the Mayo Clinic. A Discussion-Debate session has Xiulong Xu, PhD, Rush University Medical Center and James A. Fagin, MD, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, exploring the topic of “Novel Genes (Dys) Regulating Thyroid Cancer.”
The ATA’s annual conference offers participants the opportunity to learn about the most up-to-date findings on the mechanisms, prevention, diagnosis, and management of thyroid disorders and thyroid cancer, and to attend discussions on how to translate the latest research findings and clinical management guidelines into their practices to enhance patient care. Attendees will have access to valuable information about new treatment options and gain a better understanding of the impact of evolving health policy, environmental and genetic factors, and non-thyroidal conditions on thyroid disorders and cancer. They will benefit from educational and collaborative opportunities that will contribute to their ability to help their patients and advance their profession.
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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 individual membership organization for over 1,700 clinicians and researchers from 43 countries around the world, representing a broad diversity of medical disciplines. It also serves the public, patients and their family through education and awareness efforts.
Celebrating its 93rd anniversary, ATA delivers its mission through several key endeavors: the publication of highly regarded monthly journals, THYROID, Clinical Thyroidology, VideoEndocrinology and Clinical Thyroidology for the Public; 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.
More information about ATA is found at www.thyroid.org.
AMERICAN THYROID ASSOCIATION® , ATA® , THYROID® , CLINICAL THYROIDOLOGY® , and the distinctive circular logo are registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as trademarks of the American Thyroid Association® , Inc.