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| Charles H. Emerson, M.D. President, American Thyroid Association |
President's Update
August 2018
For about four months now, residents of the homes near Mauna Loa in Hawaii have been confronted with the evidence that the periods of quiet and peace they enjoyed in the past, are illusionary. On May 3, 2018 the Kilauea volcano erupted for the 63rd time, destroying multiple homes in the Leilani Estates. Now, in the month of August the Kilauea volcano continues to maintain its spectacular phenotype, recently forming a tiny new island off the west coast of what Hawaiians call, the Big Island. Elsewhere, the month of August is viewed as peaceful and leisurely, a favorite month for vacations and family reunions. For the ATA and you its members, however, the down-time we looked forward to is sometimes a mirage. Actually, there is much going on in the lives of the ATA family during August, but in some respects less of this is conspicuous to the public.
Perhaps, you are among the 84 people who submitted short call abstracts for the 88th annual meeting of the ATA in Washington DC; or, one of the program committee busy reviewing and scoring those abstracts. And possibly the only time available to put your abstract together was during your summer vacation. Or maybe you used some of your holiday to register and make travel arrangements for the upcoming meeting. This seems a distinct possibility; we continue to track registrations in the month of August and are excited to report that the ATA remains on pace to exceed last year's attendance in Victoria.
Or, it could be that you spent part of your vacation finishing a paper that needed uninterrupted time for completion and submission. For the editors and staff of ATA publications, Thyroid, VideoEndocrinology, Clinical Thyroidology, Clinical Thyroidology for the Public, Signal and ATA Member Bulletin there is no drop off during July and August. In fact, the most recent data for Thyroid showed an increase in submissions of 24 percent in July and 12 percent in August. Reviewers, along with Authors, Editorial Staff, and Publishers, are the fourth leg essential to ATA journals. The ATA is very grateful to those who review manuscripts for our journals, particularly those who do so during times that are traditional holiday periods.
Given that our annual meeting is 5 weeks away in October, August is not too early to prepare your presentations for the meeting. This applies not only to ATA members and their trainees, but also to guest speakers. Among the talks I am looking forward to is one by Dr. Neil McKenna. He will provide an update on Nuclear Receptor Signaling Atlas (NURSA) as it relates to thyroid hormone action. Some of the work Dr. McKenna will be discussing was funded by the ATA. As noted in the June issue of Signal, this is consistent with one of the ATA's strategic goals, namely to "establish an integrative process that catalyzes innovative, meaningful and fundable thyroid research".
ATA committee and staff activities to prepare for the annual meeting are yet another aspect of the so called "lazy" days of summer. Although committees submit their final reports at the annual meeting, August is often the time they meet to crystalize their recommendations. Individual staff and the Board of Directors liaison for each committee also commit time for several committees.
Up to now most examples of ongoing ATA activities in August have related to preparation for the annual meeting but these are only one aspect of the summer calendar. For those involved in planning of future meetings and ATA educational events one eye is on the imminent 2018 annual meeting and the other, so to speak, is on our Spring 2019 meeting as well as future meetings extending into the next decade. The Board can attest to this as we recently completed a lengthy survey of approximately ten venues for future meetings. In this regard please feel free to send comments to the ATA regarding your thoughts about future meetings.
Some, but not all of the activities that the ATA has been working on in the last several weeks are collaborative efforts with other medical societies to address concerns relating to developments in the economics of health care practice and net-working with international medical groups to exchange ideas and promote thyroid education.
In closing this August newsletter please note, as prominently displayed on the ATA website, that August is and was Thyroid and Pregnancy Awareness month. The ATA's website is a rich source of information and I am sure that Dr. Lynn Burmeister, Chair of the Internet Communications Committee and Website Editorial Board would welcome suggestions for her committee. If you suggest that Thyroid and Pregnancy Awareness month should be every month of the year instead of August this would be eminently reasonable as our goal is to promote healthy mothers and their babies throughout the year. Use the Thyroid and Pregnancy Awareness months to remind your patients in their child bearing years that adequate iodine in their diet before and during pregnancy is mandatory for the neurological development of their children. Add that if they have a history of hypothyroidism or thyrotoxicosis, or are at risk for these disorders, the problem should be controlled before they become pregnant. As to the former, an encouraging sign that "iodine awareness" is taking hold is the fact that iodine content information is becoming more prominent on labels for commercial salt.
Yours in ATA service and fellowship,
Charles H. Emerson, M.D.
President, American Thyroid Association
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