Abstract
The American Thyroid Association (ATA) was represented by Dr. Len Wartofsky, Dr. Douglas van Nostrand, and Dr. Jeffrey Garber, and me. Roughly 500 attendees from all over China had gathered in Chengdu, and our Chinese hosts had put an enormous effort into meticulously organizing the meeting. We remain impressed by how extremely efficiently and professionally the challenging moments during the earthquake and the logistics after the cancellation were handled by our hosts under the leadership of Dr. Weiping Teng and the directors and staff members of Merck Serono.
The Chinese version of Thyroid consists of articles carefully selected and translated from the American version of Thyroid by a group of Chinese experts led by Dr. Weiping Teng from The First Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning. This initiative of our publisher, Mary Ann Liebert Inc. Publishers, has been approved by the Board of Directors of the ATA and is generously supported by Merck Serono. Dr. Mingzhao Xing, Associate Editor of Thyroid, serves as liaison between the Chinese and the American board members.
Remarkably, Thyroid currently has 160 key research institutional subscribers in China. In 2012, there were 15,000 full-text downloads of content from Thyroid in China, illustrating the broad reception of our journal. The launch of the Chinese version of Thyroid will permit sharing of the content with an even broader readership.
The official launch of the Chinese Thyroid was subsequently held at a regional meeting in Shenyang, Liaoning, where our ATA group also had the privilege of visiting the First Hospital of China Medical University. The enthusiastic reception of the Chinese version of Thyroid by the attendees was unforgettable, and I am convinced that this initiative will further enhance the already strong relationships with our colleagues in China. In the introduction to his presentation, Dr. Garber pointed out how the city of Shenyang was connected to his hometown of Boston due to recent events; Lingzi Lu, a Boston University graduate student who hailed from Shenyang, was one of the three victims killed by the atrocious and senseless bombing attack at the Boston marathon. Thus, the tragic events in Chengdu and Boston unexpectedly led to a particularly deep and emotional connection.
We are excited about the launch of the Chinese version of Thyroid, but we regret that it was also earthshaking in the literal sense. We extend our sincere empathy to all individuals who have been directly affected by the earthquake.
Last, but not least, we thank our hosts for their warm and generous hospitality!
