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Our pre-meeting gathering starts on Wednesday morning with the ATA Advanced Endocrine Neck Ultrasound Course running concurrently with the E. Chester Ridgway Trainee Conference for clinical, surgical, pediatric endocrine, and basic science trainees. That evening, the meeting officially begins with the opening symposium, chaired by Dr. Sheue-yann Cheng, entitled “Thyroid Breaking News.” This session features an overview on intriguing new findings presented by Drs. Anthony Hollenberg, V. Krishna Chatterjee, and Ian Hay—running the spectrum from very basic thyroid biological science to clinical views about the current management of thyroid cancer.
Our Thursday morning schedule opens with a plenary lecture from Dr. Charna Dibner, who is working at the novel intersection between circadian rhythms, thyroid physiology, and cancer. This will be followed by simultaneous symposia: one that will honor the legacy of Dr. Peter Laurberg, and a second that will focus on the most appropriate treatment of low-risk thyroid cancer. Friday morning will start with a plenary lecture from Nobel Laureate Dr. Thomas Cech who will explain the incredible new power of genome editing technology for both scientific and clinical applications. This will be followed by symposia highlighting the translational biology of iodothyronine deiodinases and the Arthur Bauman Symposium analyzing the growing connections between thyroid status, feeding behavior, and obesity. A highlight of Friday's schedule is a session that will feature the cutting-edge work supported by ATA research grants. Our Saturday morning schedule starts with the Van Meter award lecture (as is our tradition, the identity of the speaker is a surprise!). Later that day, there will be several symposia, with topics including the use of radioactive iodide for treatment of thyroid cancer, discoveries in thyroid development, and a true basic-clinical cross-sectional symposium on translational thyroid biology. Finally, a very interesting Sunday morning schedule explores the thyroid cancer-immunity nexus, and closes with the always-engaging thyroid tumor board session.
Our named lecture series this year will feature eminent leaders in the field of thyroidology, with Dr. Nancy Carrasco giving the Sidney Ingbar Distinguished award lecture, Dr. P. Reed Larsen giving the Lewis E. Braverman Distinguished award lecture, Dr. Elizabeth Pearce giving the Clark T. Sawin historical vignette, and Dr. Mingzhao Xing presenting the Paul Starr award lecture.
Each year, some of the most interesting presentations emerge at the posters and oral abstracts. Such sessions populate the schedule on each full day of the meeting, and this is a rare opportunity to have a direct dialog with scientists and clinicians at all levels of the training spectrum. Your active participation in these sessions is encouraged, as it enhances the vitality and continued success of the ATA meeting.
To promote dialog among colleagues further, the ATA meeting will feature multiple thematic discussion and/or debate sessions, including topics on thyroid surgery, cancer stem cells, thyroid eye disease, hyper- and hypo-thyroidism treatments, thyroid cancer pathogenesis, the hypothalamic–pituitary–thyroid axis, thyroid autoimmunity, thyroid nodules, thyroid diseases in pregnancy, thyroid ethical dilemmas, thyroid hormonogenesis, thyroid hormone metabolites, and endocrine disruptors. We also welcome the participation of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) in co-sponsored sessions with ATA/SNMMI members to discuss the utility of pre-treatment thyroid scans and the use of 131I in the treatment of distant thyroid cancer metastases.
In addition to these interesting discussion sessions, the meeting offers ample time for informal interaction and networking with colleagues and trainees in basic and clinical thyroidology, endocrinology, surgery, medical oncology, nuclear medicine, and pathology. We encourage you to seek each other out at our kick-off networking reception, at the ATA annual banquet, or at scheduled breaks in the program.
Additional opportunities for education and information are available during the ATA meeting, including engagement with pharmaceutical, device, and technology sponsors at the 2016 Thyroid EXPO. For further information about the 86th Annual Meeting of the ATA, visit
Most of all, September offers perfect fall weather in Denver, with bright sunny days and cool clear nights, so there are ample ways to enrich your experience. We look forward to seeing you at the 86th annual meeting of the ATA!