Victor J. Bernet, MD Secretary/Chief Operating Officer

Jacqueline Jonklaas, MD Secretary Elect

Secretary's Update
September 2019

Change is something we expect with the onset of Fall season and the same can be said for the ATA's governance representation. As you are aware, elections for 3 new ATA Directors and a President-elect were held and the results will be shared with membership at the annual business meeting being held on Thursday evening 31 October. The Fall of 2019 holds some additional leadership changes. We will have a new Secretary/Chief Operating Officer as of 3 November Jacqueline Jonklaas. Believe that Jacquie is well-known to many ATA members but an introduction is still in order. She is a Professor in the Division of Endocrinology at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, where she completed her medical degree, residency, and fellowship training. She is well-respected within the field of thyroidology, dividing her time between research, clinical and academic activities. Dr. Jonklaas' research has focused on the management of hypothyroidism and thyroid cancer as well as examining patient-reported outcomes after radioiodine therapy. Dr. Jonklaas has been a member of the American Thyroid Association since 1999 and has served on multiple ATA committees to include: the Patient Education and Advocacy Committee, the Surgical Task Force Committee and the Awards Committee. She was co-chair of the American Thyroid Association Task Force on Thyroid Hormone Replacement with resulting guidelines being published in 2014. Jacquie served on the Board of Directors from 2013–2017. She has served on the Program committee and also as a co-chair of the then newly formed Guidelines and Statement Committee. Additionally, Jacquie has served on the editorial board of the journal Thyroid^® as well.

Jacquie started as Secretary-elect in October 2018 and has already been busy in her year back on the Board of Directors. She has been very active in the formulation of ATA's new strategic plan. She is contributing to this month's Signal as she outlines plans for deployment of this plan to include its kick-off at the annual meeting.

Of historic note, Jacquie's assumption of the Secretary/Chief Operating officer role will represent a first female member to become ATA Secretary. Also notable will be the composition of the 2019-20 Executive Committee which will consist of Elizabeth Pearce as Past-President, Martha Zeiger as President, Julie Ann Sosa as Treasurer and one of the president-elect candidates. Think the ATA can be proud of reaching this milestone as we look forward as the ATA strives for optimal diversity and inclusion within all realms of our association.

Other prominent ATA activities include the formation of several task forces and the realignment of a few committees. Three task forces have been created in order to update the following clinical practice guidelines: Differentiated Thyroid Cancer and Thyroid Nodules which have been divided into the separate guidelines and Pediatric Thyroid Cancer. The Guidelines and Statements Committee, capability chaired by Megan Haymart and Cord Sturgeon, has worked tirelessly in the formation of these guideline task forces to include ensuring balance in representation while also addressing COI concerns. The Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer guidelines task force has been in force and we hope to see fruits of their labors in 2020. Based on discussions held at the strategic retreat the Board of Directors has created the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Task Force, as we feel the creation of this group is essential for ensuring the ATA remains a welcoming association which grows all its members and meets the needs of our diverse group of patients. The Bylaws Committee is being absorbed under the auspices of the Board of Directors as a subcommittee and will welcome input and suggestions by membership. Additionally, after much consideration, it has been decided that the ATA would benefit by integrating members with an interest in ethics into each of our committees instead of having a stand-alone ethics advisory committee. So, as of the new governance year, ethics advisory committee members will be integrated into our many committees. The Board of Directors will have an appointed sub group, to include a couple of past Board members, to handle Conflict of Interest and ethical related issues as they arise.

Jacqueline Jonklaas, MD Secretary Elect

You may have noticed that the banner displayed on the ATA website has recently changed to state "Transforming thyroid care through clinical excellence, education, scientific discovery and advocacy in a collaborative community". You may also have noticed the phrase "Optimal Thyroid Health for All" on our website and in ATA correspondence. The appearance of these new mission and vision statements respectively were not chance events, but are the culmination of a deliberative process to determine the goals and focus of the ATA in the upcoming years. A group of ATA members, representing the rich diversity of the ATA in all its aspects, gathered in Phoenix in May for a Strategic Planning meeting. During this discussion, a road map for the ATA was formulated that we hope will ensure that the ATA continues to represent excellence in thyroid clinical care, research and education, and remains relevant with active advocacy for our members and patients.

During this very productive meeting four areas of focus for ATA activities were identified: 1) Clinical, scientific, and research excellence, 2) Primary thyroid health education and advocacy, 3) Operational, fiscal, and staffing excellence, and 4) Member diversity, growth, and engagement. Specific goals within these topic areas were developed. During the upcoming annual meeting, you will hear more about these goals from the leadership of the ATA. Our standing committees will be key instruments to make this process a reality and we encourage all committee chairs and members to work with energy and enthusiasm to implement the activities that will achieve these goals. We are also very pleased to announce that as part of our new Strategic Plan, we are convening a new Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Task Force: stay tuned to hear more about this new group. This is an exciting time for our organization as we work toward taking our organization to the next level.

Bobbi Rath Smith, CAE Executive Director

A big change for the ATA is expected for June of 2020. We are sure that when you think of the ATA, you not only think of the thyroid gland in all its complexities and our wonderfully engaged members, but that you also think of our Executive Director, Bobbi Smith. Bobbi has been part of the fabric of the ATA since 1988, and has been an integral part of the "persona" of the ATA. She is professional, knowledgeable, a consummate communicator, and has an amazing command of skills, including an unsurpassed "historical memory" of the ATA. She has been an incomparable advocate for the ATA in all aspects of our activities. It is with great sadness, that we inform membership that Bobbi is moving on to the next chapter of her life. The enormous void that Bobbi will leave behind will no doubt be filled in time, although it is hard to imagine this now. Please thank Bobbi for all her years of service when you see her at the Annual Meeting and wish her happiness in her retirement. You will also be hearing about the task force that has the close-to-impossible task of finding a replacement for Bobbi, ably chaired by John Morris. Thank you, Bobbi, for having honored us by making the ATA your professional home for all these years.

Victor J. Bernet, MD
Secretary/Chief Operating Officer

Jacqueline Jonklaas, MD
Secretary-elect