PRESIDENT-ELECT CANDIDATES

James Hennessey, MD, Beth Israel Deaconess

Dr Hennessey is Director of Clinical Endocrinology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Associate Professor of Medicine at the Harvard medical School.  He graduated from the Medical Faculty of the Karl Franzens University in Graz Austria. He completed a Medical Residency at the New Britain Hospital in Connecticut. He served with the USAF as an Internist/Flight Surgeon. While on active duty he completed subspecialty training in endocrinology and metabolism at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington DC where he conducted research in thyroxine bioequivalence.

Dr Hennessey served as the Chief of Endocrinology at USAF Medical Center Wright-Patterson in Ohio and later joined the faculty at Wright State University School of Medicine as the Director of Clinical Clerkships, maintaining a clinical-teaching practice at Wright State and in thyroidology at Wright-Patterson Medical Center. Upon arrival at Brown Medical School in Providence RI, he transferred to the Air National Guard as a flight surgeon and finally as Rhode Island State Surgeon, retiring after a 25 year USAF career in 2006. While at Brown, he was Associate Director for Clinical Education in the Division of Endocrinology at Rhode Island Hospital and directed the Medical School Endocrine Pathophysiology course.

Dr Hennessey’s career has focused on the clinical education of medical students, resident physicians in internal medicine, and fellows in endocrinology and metabolism. In this capacity he has conducted lectures, precepted clinical care, and carried out original and sponsored clinical research with his trainees. Currently, he is pursuing his clinical interest in thyroid disease with expanding clinical programs.

Michael McDermott, MD, University of Colorado

Michael McDermott is Professor of Medicine and Clinical Pharmacy at the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine and Director of the Endocrinology and Diabetes Practice at the University of Colorado Hospital. He graduated Tulane Medical School in 1977. His Internal Medicine Internship and Residency (1977-1980), and Endocrinology and Metabolism Fellowship (1980-1982) were completed at Fitzsimons Army Medical Center in Aurora, Colorado. He spent 20 years in the US Army during which time he was the Chief of Endocrinology at Fitzsimons (1993-1997) and served as the Endocrinology Consultant to the Surgeon General (1994-1997). He has been a member of the ATA since 1992 and has been the ATA CME Director since 2009. He served on the ATA Board of Directors 2007-2010. He was the Program Chair for the ATA annual meeting in New York in 2007 and has served on multiple ATA committees: Program Committee, Finance and Audit Committee, Publications Committee, Website Committee, Lab Services Committee, Webinar Program Committee, Development Committee, Corporate Leadership Council and ATA Centennial Task Force.

SECRETARY-ELECT CANDIDATES

Christopher McCabe, PhD, University of Birmingham

Chris McCabe is Professor of Molecular Endocrinology at the University of Birmingham. He works on mechanisms of endocrine cancers, including thyroid, breast and head and neck tumour models. Specifically, the research of the McCabe group focuses on the action of the sodium iodide symporter NIS in thyroid tumours; assessment of the role of the proto-oncogenes PTTG and PBF in thyroid, breast, and head and neck tumours; in vitro and in vivo models exploring gene function; mechanisms of aneuploidy and genetic instability.

ENDOCRINOLOGIST DIRECTOR CANDIDATES

Mabel Ryder, MD, Mayo Clinic

Mabel Ryder is an endocrine oncologist at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. She has dual appointments in endocrinology and medical oncology where she manages benign and malignant thyroid disease. She is currently the chair of the endocrine oncology tumor group, representing the Mayo Clinic Enterprise, with a goal of improving the care for patients with advanced endocrine cancers, particularly thyroid, through clinical trials and translational research.

Prior to joining Mayo Clinic, Dr. Ryder spent 7 years as a junior faculty at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer center. She worked in the laboratory of Dr. James Fagin with a focus on characterizing and understanding the role of the tumor microenvironment in advanced thyroid cancers. This was the first data to show that tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) heavily infiltrate advanced poorly differentiated and anaplastic thyroid cancers. Preclinical data showed that therapeutically targeting TAMs can reverse the tumor phenotype, suggesting a potential novel strategy for patients with advanced disease.

At Mayo Clinic. Dr. Ryder continues clinical and translational research in advanced endocrine cancers through dual appointments in endocrinology and medical oncology.  The bridging of these fields led to a novel IND use of K1-70^TM, , a TSH receptor blocking antibody, in a patient with advanced follicular thyroid cancer and Graves’ eye disease, demonstrating proof-of-principle of the role of TSH receptor in these diseases (published in Thyroid). She continues to use expertise in both fields, and prior research work, in developing novel approaches for rare, advanced endocrine malignancies, including a focus on immune related approaches.

Dr. Ryder has been an ATA member since 2008 and served on membership, research, and annual program meeting committees. She was co-chair of the 2018 Annual Meeting with Dr. Greg Randolph and a recipient of a prior ATA research grant for her work above.

Dr. Ryder serves as secretary of the International Thyroid Oncology Groups (ITOG), whose mission, overlapping with the ATA, is to develop and promote novel treatments for patients with advanced thyroid cancers through multi-center collaborative research and clinical trials.

Jennifer Sipos, MD, Ohio State University

Jennifer A. Sipos is a Professor of Medicine and Vice Chair for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for the Department of Medicine at the Ohio State University.  She also serves as the Medical Director of the Neuroendocrine Cancer Program at The Arthur G. James Comprehensive Cancer Center.  She obtained her medical degree and Internal Medicine residency training at Wake Forest University.  She completed her Endocrinology and Metabolism Fellowship at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.

Dr. Sipos has developed an interest in the use of ultrasonography for the diagnosis and management of thyroid nodules and cancer and has taught and served as a course director for numerous ultrasound courses nationally and internationally.  Additionally, she is actively involved in several clinical research projects with a particular interest in factors implicated in the development of salivary damage after radioiodine therapy, clinical trials for the evaluation of targeted therapies in refractory thyroid cancer, and the diagnostic use of molecular markers in thyroid nodules.

She is an invited member of the International Thyroid Nodule Ultrasound Working Group to create an international TIRADS for thyroid nodule ultrasound risk stratification and management. She is also a member of the Thyroid Carcinoma Panel of the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines. Additionally, she served on the American Association of Endocrine Surgeons Thyroidectomy Guidelines Task Force.

Dr. Sipos has been an active member of the ATA since 2006, previously serving as chair of the former Website/Communications committee, co-chair of the Trainees and Career Advancement Committee, and member of the Editorial Board for Thyroid.  She is a current member of the DEI Committee and the Centennial Task Force and is on the Thyroid Nodule Guidelines Task Force.

PEDIATRIC ENDOCRINOLOGIST DIRECTOR CANDIDATES

Liuska Pesce, MD, University of Iowa

Dr. Pesce completed medical school at the Universidad Central de Venezuela, research postdoctoral fellowship at Northwestern University, pediatric residency at the University of Illinois in Chicago and fellowship in pediatric endocrinology at Northwestern University. She is currently a Clinical Professor at the University of Iowa, Carver College of Medicine in Iowa City, Iowa and the Founder and Director of the Pediatric Thyroid Clinic at the Stead Family Children’s Hospital.

She was involved in basic research as a postdoctoral fellow studying the role of signal transduction pathways in regulating the sodium potassium ATPase in epithelial cells. During her pediatric endocrinology fellowship, she studied the regulation of pendrin and apical iodine transport.

Following her completion of training, she has dedicated her career to become a Master clinician and educator and to create and grow a multidisciplinary Pediatric Thyroid Clinic at the University of Iowa.

Most recently, she has published on iodine transport in health and disease and has collaborated with neonatology, radiology, endocrine surgeons and oculoplastics to improve the care of children and adolescents with thyroid disorders. She also has been the author of several book chapters and a faculty for the Pediatric Endocrinology Self-assessment program for the Endocrine Society since 2015, which she has chaired since 2020.

She has been an active member of the American Thyroid Association (ATA) since 2011, was a member of the ATA Clinical Affairs Committee for six years, member of the editorial board of Clinical Thyroidology for the Public for 2 years and she has been member of the Patient Affairs & Education Committee since 2019. She was asked to serve the BOD in 2019 when the position became vacant for unforeseen reasons and has since served as member of the Public Health Committee as Board Liaison.

She was awarded the prestigious Clinical Coaching Award at the University of Iowa, Carver College of Medicine and received the Top 10% in the Nation Patient’s Choice Award for Patience Experience.

Ari Wassner, MD, Boston Children’s Hospital

Ari Wassner is Medical Director of the Boston Children’s Hospital Thyroid Center and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Wassner attended Harvard Medical School and completed pediatric residency and pediatric endocrinology fellowship at Boston Children’s Hospital prior to joining the faculty. In addition to leading the BCH Thyroid Center, Dr. Wassner holds multiple leadership positions in medical education, including Director of the Pediatric Endocrinology fellowship program at Boston Children’s Hospital and director of preclinical endocrinology education at Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Wassner’s clinical and research activities focus on pediatric thyroid disease, with a particular interest in thyroid neoplasia in children and on congenital hypothyroidism.  A primary focus of his research has been to elucidate the differences between pediatric and adult thyroid nodules and cancer to optimize evidence-based care of pediatric thyroid neoplasia.  Dr. Wassner has also published extensively about congenital hypothyroidism and serves as ATA Liaison Representative to the American Academy of Pediatrics congenital hypothyroidism clinical guideline writing group. A national and international expert in pediatric thyroid disease, Dr. Wassner has published 35 research articles and over 40 invited chapters and reviews.

Dr. Wassner has been an American Thyroid Association member since 2011 and has served on the ATA Trainees & Career Advancement Committee (2013-2019), Awards Committee (2020- present), and Pediatric Thyroid Cancer Guidelines Task Force (2019-present).  He is also a member of the Pediatric Endocrine Society and the Endocrine Society.

TRAINEE OBSERVERS (BY APPOINTMENT)

Carol Chiung-Hui Peng, MD, Boston University

Carol Chiung-Hui Peng, originally from Taiwan, is an adult endocrinology fellow at Boston Medical Center and clinical instructor of medicine at Boston University. She is also a registered yoga instructor. Carol has a special interest in the thyroid. Bringing new scientific evidence related to clinical practice is her research enthusiasm. Starting from being an internal medicine trainee, she has demonstrated her dedication and talent in multiple major endocrinology annual meetings by winning top awards. Her works have been published in top-tier journals and reported by medical and non-medical media. Carol’s cheerful personality always brings peals of laughter at work.

Rhea Udyavar, MD, Johns Hopkins University

Rhea Udyavar, MD is currently in the process of transitioning from Endocrine Surgery fellowship at Johns Hopkins Hospital to a faculty position as Assistant Professor of Surgery at the University of Washington, where she will begin her career as an academic surgeon. Her clinical area of interest is in diseases of the thyroid, parathyroid, and adrenal glands, and she hopes to establish a high-volume thyroid cancer practice in Seattle.

Dr. Udyavar’s academic interest is in healthcare disparities and the intersection of race, socioeconomic variables, systemic racism, and disparities in surgical care. Beyond the impact of patient race and disease biology on health outcome and access disparities, the racial background and lived experiences of the surgeon may also play a role in the ongoing inequities observed in the United States healthcare system. Dr. Udyavar hopes to continue to uncover these sources of disparities to identify interventions targeted at the surgeon component of the patient/surgeon dyad.

After completing medical school at George Washington University, Dr. Udyavar began general surgery training at Duke University prior to completing a research fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where she completed the remainder of her residency training. While at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Dr. Udyavar served as the inaugural Chief Resident for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Her research interests provided a solid foundation and served as a natural transition into this type of work, and expanding organizational principles of inclusivity is an ongoing passion of Dr. Udyavar’s. She hopes to continue to serve in leadership roles for DEI initiatives, particularly with regard to ensuring that trainees who are underrepresented in medicine not only have access to competitive training opportunities, but are also given the resources to thrive. Dr. Udyavar is currently a member of the ATA’s DEI committee and will be serving as a member of the DEI committee for the American Association of Endocrine Surgeons this year.

She has published widely on surgical disparities, and has written several review articles for Clinical Thyroidology.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Annually, the Board of Directors discusses its composition and the balance of specialty, practice area, and other demographic and geographic attributes for the next governance cycle. After evaluating its needs with an emphasis and focus on diversity, equity and inclusion, the Board of Directors then recommends that the Nominating Committee select individuals in designated practice and specialty areas.  In addition to electing a President-elect, the recommendation for the 2022 Ballot was to elect new members of the Board of Directors in the areas of: Endocrinologist and Pediatric Endocrinologist.  Eligibility for the Board of Directors requires five years of membership, five years of recent meeting attendance, previous committee service and disclosure of conflicts of interest. The Nominating Committee will consider nominees who were not selected this year during future nomination cycles.  Additionally, the Board of Directors asked that the Nominating Committee identify and appoint two Trainee Observers to a one-year term on the Board of Directors.

Nominating Committee Process

We encouraged our members to nominate their colleagues for the Board by sending out a Call for Nominations through our various communication platforms including: Members Only, emails and newsletters, social media, colleague to colleague, and personalized emails to specific groups (i.e. WIT).  Out of the 53 new nominations, 35 nominees agreed to be considered for the ATA Board.  The Nominating Committee is charged with presenting two candidates for each designated slot. To select the candidates, the committee reviews all the nominations and meets several times to consider, discuss and rank the final candidates. We appreciate the Nominating Committee’s service and dedication to the process.

Nominating Committee Members