Abstract
Dr. Ridgway began his lecture with a portrait of Dr. Braverman then, using the magic of Power Point, added two images of Braverman's mentor, Dr. Sidney H. Ingbar, shown in his early years and as a senior investigator. The collage was completed by adding five mentees; some were former fellows, others were former members of his faculty, but all were only a tiny fraction of the many whose lives and careers he influenced. Keeping the slide in place, Ridgway expanded the scope of Braverman's mentorship, explaining that although he had not been one of his mentees, it was his privilege to have Lew as a mentor's mentor.
Dr. Ridgway's topic of “Mentors and Thyroidology” focused on three of the most dynamic aspects of the 2011 ATA meeting and the previous year's literature: thyroid hormone transporters, the role of deiodinases in the regulation of triiodothyronine and thyroxine in cellular compartments, and small molecule thyrotropin receptor agonists and antagonists. Each topic was succinctly reviewed. When speaking of thyroid hormone transporters and deiodinases, Dr. Ridgway stressed the discrepancies that can occur between plasma thyroid hormone concentrations and the “true” state of thyroid function within cells. He illustrated this with a description of the Allan-Herndon-Dudley syndrome of psychomotor retardation, now attributed to defects in the X chromosome gene for monocarboxylate transporter 8. In his discussion of deiodinases, Ridgeway expanded on the concept that deiodinases affect iodothyronine concentrations across compartments (for example, maternal–fetal), and cellular plasma membranes, reviewing the evidence for a paracrine role of deiodinases in glial–neuron and tanocyte–TRH neuron interactions. In the penultimate part of his talk, Dr. Ridgway touched on the therapeutic potential in a variety of thyroid diseases of small molecule thyrotropin receptor agonists, antagonists, and inverse agonists. Throughout his discourse, he was never far from the underlying theme of mentors and mentees, demonstrating the power and productivity of this relationship by displaying the work of some of the outstanding investigators who were mentored by Georg Hennemann, John Stanbury, Valerie Galton, P. Reed Larsen, and Jacob (Jack) Robbins. In the tradition of a true mentor, Dr. Ridgway concluded with a quiz for his audience, challenging them to identify five famous mentor–mentee pairs from Greek, Classical, and recent history.
The Lewis E. Braverman Distinguished Award Lectureship was “endowed by contributions to honor Dr. Lewis E. Braverman,” a member of the ATA since 1965. The Braverman Lectureship “recognizes an individual who has demonstrated excellence and passion for mentoring fellows, students and junior faculty; has a long history of productive thyroid research; and is devoted to the ATA.” The Lewis E. Braverman Distinguished Award Lectureship is supported by the ATA's Lewis E. Braverman Award Fund.
Lewis Braverman was born in Quincy, Massachusetts, and graduated cum laude from Milton Academy and Harvard College. He received his M.D. from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. This was followed by an Internal Medicine Residency on the II-IV Medical Services (Harvard) at Boston City Hospital and an Endocrinology Fellowship under the direction of the late Sidney H. Ingbar, M.D., in the Thorndike Memorial Laboratory. He was Chief of Endocrinology at St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Boston, Director of Endocrinology and Chief of Nuclear Medicine at University of Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester, and Chief of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Nutrition at Boston Medical Center/Boston University. He is currently still active as a researcher and clinician on staff at Boston Medical Center/Boston University.
Braverman has been an active and dedicated member of the ATA for over 45 years, serving as Secretary and President as well as on many committees. The ATA is certainly the organization that Dr. Braverman calls “home.” He has been the recipient of all of the ATA awards, including the Van Meter Essay Award, Distinguished Service Award, and Paul Starr Memorial Award. He was the first Sidney Ingbar Distinguished Award Lecturer and the first recipient of the Thyroid Pathophysiology Medal.
The Braverman Lectureship was conceived and its endowment initiated by his former fellows, 25 of whom gathered in Boston at the meeting of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists in April 2010. To quote and paraphrase their thoughts, this lectureship honors Dr. Braverman for his lifetime of dedication and passion for training and supporting fellows, residents, students, and junior faculty in the ongoing lifelong journey of gaining knowledge and expertise and fostering the joy and satisfaction that led all of us to pursue medicine and science as a career, not only in the field of thyroidology but in all aspects of medicine. Much of this support is obvious in his direct interactions with trainees in the lab, the clinic, or on the wards. However, Dr. Braverman has been a champion in the arenas that most of us do not see. Despite all of the competing pressures, he pushes department and hospital administrations for more protected time to develop and nurture fellows and junior faculty. This leadership and guidance inspires a lifelong drive for excellence.