PRESIDENT-ELECT CANDIDATES

Jacqueline Jonklaas, MD, PhD, Georgetown University

Dr. Jacqueline Jonklaas is a professor of endocrinology at Georgetown University. Her area of particular interest is hypothyroidism and thyroid cancer. Dr Jonklaas enjoys dividing her time between research, clinical activities, and teaching.

Dr. Jonklaas has been a member of the ATA since 1999, serves on the editorial board of the journal Thyroid, serves on the Board of Directors, and is the current Secretary/Chief Operating Officer. She was co-chair of the ATA Task Force on Thyroid Hormone Replacement and co-chair of the inaugural Guidelines and Statements Committee. Being a member of the ATA has been an integral and invaluable part of Dr Jonklaas’ professional development.

Dr. Jonklaas has published research regarding treatment and outcomes in patients with thyroid cancer. She has also studied therapy for hypothyroidism and was the co-lead of the ATA’s 2014 guidelines for the treatment of hypothyroidism. She is involved in translational research and is the director of the Georgetown Clinical Research Unit.

Dr. Jonklaas teaches at both a local and national level. At her home institution she teaches endocrinology to medical students, residents, and fellows. At a national level she has written the thyroid questions for the Endocrine Society’s Self-Assessment Program and their Endocrine Board Review course.

Ralph Tufano, MD, Florida State University College of Medicine

Dr. Ralph P. Tufano is Clinical Professor of Surgery at the Florida State University College of Medicine and Director of the FPG Multidisciplinary Thyroid and Parathyroid Center at the Sarasota Memorial Health Care System in Sarasota Florida.  He was the Charles W. Cummings MD Endowed Professor in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (OHNS) and the Director of Head and Neck Endocrine Surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine 2012-2021.  He graduated SUNY Buffalo School of Medicine in 1995, completed his OHNS residency at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in 2000 and a fellowship in Head and Neck Oncologic Surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital in 2001.  He joined the ATA in 2005 and served on the Board of Directors 2017-2020.  He helped to establish the Surgical Affairs Committee and was its inaugural co-chair 2009-2011.  He has served on many ATA committees: Program, Membership, Guidelines and Statements, Development, Ethics Advisory, Valerie Ann Galton Fundraising Team, Samuel Refetoff Fund Steering, Co-Chair ATA Spring Meeting 2019, ATA Centennial Task Force and the Differentiated Thyroid Cancer Guidelines Task Force.  He has served as an Associate Editor for Video Endocrinology since its inception and chaired the Corporate Leadership Meeting at the 2022 Annual Meeting.

DIRECTOR – CYTOLOGY, NUCLEAR MEDICINE, PATHOLOGY, PEDIATRIC ENDOCRINOLOGY OR RADIOLOGY CANDIDATES

Zubair Baloch, MD, PhD, University of Pennsylvania Medical Center

Dr. Zubair Baloch is currently a professor of pathology and laboratory medicine there. He has authored more than 200 peer reviewed publications, book chapters and monographs. He has served as co-editor of the most recent “Milan System for Reporting Salivary Gland Cytopathology”. Dr. Baloch has also served as the chair of the terminology and morphologic criteria committee of the 2007 NCI sponsored “Bethesda Thyroid FNA Classification Scheme”. Dr. Baloch has taught at both national and international meetings. He has also served on the international panel which recommended the renaming of encapsulated follicular variant of papillary thyroid carcinoma to non-invasive follicular tumor with papillary like nuclear features (NIFTP) and the current WHO editorial board of classification of thyroid neoplasms. Dr. Baloch is chief editor of Diagnostic Cytopathology and member of the editorial board of many pathology journals. Dr. Baloch has served as the chair of ASCP annual meeting scientific program committee (2014-2018), member of Papanicolaou Society scientific program committee, USCAP education committee, ASC executive board and chair of the annual meeting scientific program committee, AACE thyroid nodule guideline task force, USCAP executive board, ATA lab-test committee and well-differentiated thyroid carcinoma management guidelines committee. Dr. Baloch’s has received many teaching and service awards.

Maya Lodish, MD, University of California San Francisco

Dr. Maya Lodish holds the Selna L. Kaplan Chair as Distinguished Professor of Pediatric Endocrinology and Division Chief of Pediatric Endocrinology at the University of California San Francisco. Dr. Lodish attended the Yale University School of Medicine. She completed her Internship & Residency in Pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD. She pursued her Fellowship in Pediatric Endocrinology at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD. She completed a masters in clinical research at Duke University.  Her research interests are in the endocrine-related complications faced by survivors of pediatric cancers, as well as in the genetic etiologies of pediatric endocrine tumors. She plays a leading role in a number of studies to understand the pathophysiology and to improve the clinical care for pediatric patients with endocrine tumors including pheochromocytoma, Cushing syndrome, and thyroid cancer. At UCSF, Dr. Lodish is part of a dynamic clinical research team in the field of thyroid cancer, together with colleagues in the Department of Surgery and Oncology. Dr. Lodish also leads endocrine care and clinical research in the UCSF cancer survivor multidisciplinary clinic, and the Pediatric Hereditary Cancer Clinic. Nationally, Dr. Lodish is a leader in the field of medical education as a member of the Clinical Education Committees of the Endocrine society, and the executive leadership board of the Children’s oncology group. Dr. Lodish has been an American Thyroid Association member since 2018 and has served on the ATA Education Leadership Committee (2020-2022). She is also a member of the Pediatric Endocrine Society and the Endocrine Society, and the International Thyroid Oncology Group.

DIRECTOR – MEDICAL ONCOLOGY OR ENDOCRINE ONCOLOGY CANDIDATES

Maria Cabanillas, MD, MD Anderson Cancer Center

Dr. Maria E. Cabanillas, is an Oncologic Endocrinologist at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. She is a tenured Professor and the Faculty Director of Clinical Research in the department of Endocrine Neoplasia at MD Anderson.

As a clinician and clinical researcher, she treats both early and advanced thyroid cancers. Her research focus is in advanced and aggressive thyroid cancer, with an emphasis that includes molecular targeted therapies and immunotherapy. Dr. Cabanillas led the effort to create FAST, Facilitating Anaplastic thyroid cancer Specialized Treatment at MD Anderson–a multidisciplinary group who sees the highest volume of anaplastic thyroid cancer patients in the nation. In 2022 she was the recipient of the Beverly and Jack Randall Prize for Cancer Treatment for this comprehensive and innovative treatment program for anaplastic thyroid cancer, which led to a nearly 3-fold improvement in overall survival for these patients. She has received many other awards, including the Hossein Gharib Educational Lectureship Award from the American Association of Clinical Endocrinology (AACE).

Dr. Cabanillas serves as the principal investigator on several clinical trials for the treatment of advanced thyroid cancer and has published over 140 manuscripts and book chapters, including publications in The New England Journal of Medicine and JAMA Oncology. She has been an active member of the American Thyroid Association since 2009 and completed her service on the 2021 anaplastic thyroid cancer guidelines committee for the American Thyroid Association. She has also been a member of the International Thyroid Oncology Group (ITOG) since 2012 and has volunteered her time on the Board of Directors and thyroid cancer Task Forces and various committees.

Mabel Ryder, MD, Mayo Clinic Rochester

Dr. Mabel Ryder has been an active member of the ATA since 2008, serving on the membership, annual program and research committees as well as attending and participating in annual ATA meetings, including co-chairing the 2018 annual meeting in Washington, DC with Dr. Greg Randolph. Dr. Ryder is Secretary of the International Thyroid Oncology group and Chair/Co-Chair of ITOG’s annual meeting as well as a member of the Executive Committee of ITOG. The mission of ITOG is to develop cures for patients with the most advanced thyroid cancers through the development and support of novel clinical trials and correlative sciences. Thus, she has a long commitment to the ATA mission as well as serves in other leadership roles in the thyroid field.

Her first ATA meeting as a junior faculty and new member of the ATA was in 2008 when she presented her work from the Fagin Lab at MSKCC on characterizing the tumor microenvironement and tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) in advanced thyroid cancers. This work was subsequently funded by a ThyCa -ATA research grant that led to preclinical studies demonstrating novel therapuetic strategies for thyroid cancers focused on TAMs.

Dr. Ryder’s current expertise and practice is focused on clinical and translational studies, including engagement in clinical trials for patients with low risk to advanced thyroid cancers. This expertise, across the spectrum of thyroid cancer disease, would enable her to contribute uniquely as a Board of Director member of the ATA by bridging 2 fields to help advance the clinical and scientific expertise of thyroid cancers to improve the care of our patients.

DIRECTOR – OTOLARYNGOLOGY – HEAD AND NECK SURGERY CANDIDATES

David Steward, MD, University of Cincinnati

Dr. David Steward is the Chair of the Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, at the University of Cincinnati.

Dr. Steward is internationally recognized for his expertise in thyroid disease and cancer. He was the first Otolaryngology HNS member and co-author of the ATA Thyroid Nodule and Cancer Guidelines and subsequent revisions. He is also co-author of the AAES Thyroidectomy Guidelines, and a co-author of the AAO-HNS Cranial Nerve Monitoring Guidelines. He is also a Steering Committee member for Advanced Thyroid and Parathyroid Surgery Focused Practice Designation for the American Board of Surgery and Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery. Dr. Steward is an active clinical researcher with numerous publications, including practice-changing studies in thyroid disease.

Dr. Steward has been actively involved in the ATA for over 2 decades, serving as Chair of ATA Surgical Affairs Committee and 2-time Chair of the Nominating Committee. He also served repeatedly on the ATA Research and Program Committees and more recently on the Finance Committee. He also has a long record of service and leadership on Committees within the AAO-HNS, AHNS, and Triological Society. He has repeatedly served the ATA as Ultrasound Faculty and Faculty for the ATA Fellow course.

Mark Zafereo, MD, MD Anderson Cancer Center

Dr. Mark Zafereo is Professor of Head and Neck Surgery at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, where he is Section Chief of Head and Neck Endocrine Surgery and Associate Medical Director of the Head & Neck Center. His clinical practice and research focus on patients afflicted with thyroid cancer and parathyroid neoplasms, particularly multidisciplinary care of patients with advanced thyroid cancer, wherein he leads several national multicenter clinical trials on neoadjuvant therapy followed by surgery.

Mark currently serves on the Board of the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, and Board of the International Thyroid Oncology Group. He works on the Medical Advisory Council for the Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association (ThyCa), and holds committee appointments for the American Head and Neck Society and American College of Surgeons.

Dr. Zafereo has served on multiple committees and task forces within the American Thyroid Association, including the Internet Communications Committee (2016-2018); the Leadership Strategic Planning Retreat (2019); the Surgical Affairs Committee (2019-present; Chair, 2022-present); the Education and Outreach Task Force (2020-2021), the Spring Meeting Program Committee (2020-2021), and the Medullary Thyroid Cancer Guidelines Task Force (2022-present). He also serves on the Editorial Board and as an Associate Editor for Thyroid (2022-present).

TRAINEE OBSERVERS (BY APPOINTMENT)

Brandon Moretti, MD, University of Michigan

Dr. Brandon Moretti will be starting his first year as an adult endocrinology fellow at the University of Michigan Health System in July 2023. He completed his medical degree at Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine in 2020 and will have completed internal medicine residency training also at the University of Michigan. He has been a member of the American Thyroid Association since 2022 when he attended his first ATA annual meeting. He presented his qualitative research work on thyroid hormone deprescribing in geriatric populations at that time and continues work in this area. His academic interests include thyroidology, thyroid cancer, high value care, and quality improvement. During internal medicine residency, he was part of a resident quality improvement research group that gained departmental recognition for highlighting disparities in osteoporosis screening among University of Michigan patients. He has written several review articles for Clinical Thyroidology, focusing primarily on qualitative research. He was also invited to serve as a volunteer member for the ATA E Chester Ridgway Trainee Conference Reinvention Task Force in advance of the 2023 annual ATA meeting.

David Toro-Tobon, MD, Mayo Clinic Rochester

Dr. David Toro-Tobon is a third year clinical and research endocrinology fellow, and Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester. He completed medical school at CES University in Medellin, Colombia, and internal medicine residency training at Georgetown University Hospital in Washington D.C., USA. As a budding research thyroidologist, Dr. Toro-Tobon is committed to developing expertise in clinical thyroidology and utilizing artificial intelligence techniques for the evaluation and management of thyroid diseases.  He has conducted prospective, cross-sectional, and quality improvement projects in areas such as advanced medical therapies for thyroid eye disease, glucocorticoid metabolite profiles for patients with functional thyroid disease, and redifferentiation therapy for patients with progressive metastatic radioactive iodine refractory differentiated thyroid cancer. His work has been presented at national and international meetings, and he has been the first author of several original articles. In addition, Dr Toro-Tobon has completed formal training in medical education and has assumed several local and national leadership positions during his medical school, residency, and fellowship training.

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 2023 Ballot was to elect new members of the Board of Directors in the areas of: Cytology, Nuclear Medicine, Pathology, Pediatric Endocrinology or Radiology, Medical Oncology or Endocrine Oncology, and Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery. 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). 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