Fellows' Feedback from the 82nd Annual Meeting
I was really enthusiastic about presenting a poster in the ATA meeting, and even more about being accepted in the Clinical Fellow's Grant Program. This was my first ATA meeting, and it represented to me a wonderful experience. The fellow's track was very useful, as it covered most of the issues we have to do with in our clinical practice, from performing an ultrasonography to writing a paper. My favorite session was the "Clinical cases" one. In fact it gave us the possibility to get expert opinions on our own cases, but also let us put ourselves to the test in talking to an audience. This was the first time I talked to an audience in a foreign language and it was very good for me to do in a friendly and informal context. This experience will certainly help me in the future. One more reason why I enjoyed the meeting are the people I met. Despite coming to Quebec City by myself, I have never been alone during these four days. From the most famous of the professors to the younger of the fellows, during poster sessions, dinners, and on the dance floor, everyone was kind, friendly, and made me feel comfortable. That being stated, of course I hope to attend many ATA meetings in the next years, and this is an experience I will certainly recommend to every young fellow keen on thyroidology." Valentina Capelli, MD
It was a great honor for me to participate in the Fellows' programs at the, 82nd Annual Meeting of the American Thyroid Association (ATA) in Quebec City, PQ, Canada. I want to thank you for the excellent organization of the congress. It was really interesting to listen to all these different topics and to get a great new input. My PhD program mainly deals with cell and molecular aspects of TSH receptor expressing cell lines for measuring TSH receptor autoantibodies as well as the various intracellular pathways used for either stimulation or blockade of luciferase activity. In my favorite basic Fellowship session I learned how I can represent myself in a good way that people are attracted to listen to my talk. For the future meetings I would appreciate if there will be a young investigator competition because all the young researchers have the possibility to show what great efforts they gained in their research." Tanja Diana, Master of Science
The ATA Fellows' Track was an excellent educational opportunity. The lunch sessions on research and career development were invaluable. I also very much enjoyed the clinical case discussions. The accommodations were excellent and the large number of fellows participating made networking very easy. I would definitely encourage people to participate at future meetings and I would definitely return. Geoffrey David Young, MD, PhD
The high value of the formative sessions, covering a wide range of topics viewed from different perspectives, with participating speakers from different specialties was particularly important. This contributed to the meeting being even more interesting and relevant. It is very difficult to single out a favorite session as there were so many that could fit this category I will therefore highlight how novel and interesting the Selling your Science session was, (Thursday September 20th Fellows' Educational track) and the Friday morning sessions on Iodine and Thyroid Hormone and the Brain." I learned a lot about the practical side and the importance of combining ultrasound visualization of the thyroid nodule whilst performing fine needle cytology, so as to increase diagnostic accuracy. I also consolidated my knowledge with regard to tumour markers in thyroid carcinoma. I started my academic work in the field of thyroid disease at the University Hospitals in Johannesburg, South Africa, where I progressed to being Director of the Thyroid Clinic at Baragwanath Academic Hospital. My first publication of relevance was: "Non aspiration fine needle cytology application of a new technique to thyroid nodular disease" published in Acta Cytologica in 1988. This publication appears often as a reference in major thyroid textbooks including: Werner & Ingbar's The Thyroid. For family reasons I am presently working in Portugal. I would like to be able to work in a big University and Academic institution in the United States, participating in relevant clinical and lecturing work, benefiting from their high standards, contributing to the Institution's academic and clinical achievements whilst simultaneously further developing my skills and knowledge." Jose Eduardo Santos |
My name is Valentina Capelli and I come from Piacenza (Italy). I am now working in Fondazione Salvatore Maugeri (Pavia, Italy), where I just started my fellowship in endocrinology. Since I was a student I was interested not only in clinical practice, but also in clinic research. In the past two years I worked on several projects, from thyroid elastosonography to sex hormone receptors in thyroid cancer. Now my studies are focusing on thyroid function in women undergoing assisted reproduction technologies. 
"My name is Tanja Diana and I am accomplishing a PhD program in the Molecular Thyroid Research Laboratory at the Johannes Gutenberg University Medical Center in Mainz, Germany (Lab. and PhD program Director: Prof. GJ Kahaly). 
"The 82nd ATA Annual Meeting was a very dynamic, interesting meeting with a high standard in both the formative and informative components. It provided essential, up to date theoretical and practical expert presentations and discussions.