Celebrating 20 Years of Women in Thyroidology in the American Thyroid Association

In celebration of International Women's Day this March 8, 2023, it is our privilege to honor the important history and review the status of women in thyroidology (WIT), in alignment with the strategic plan of the American Thyroid Association (ATA) to promote the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion among its members and the scientific thyroid community. Having just celebrated the 20th anniversary of WIT at the ATA annual meeting this past fall in Montreal, the future for WIT is bright, hopeful, and forward looking.

WIT is a community founded in 2002 by Virginia Sarapura MD and Carole A. Spencer PhD, long-term active female members of the ATA, toward the goal of providing a forum for women to better network and build connections at a time when females comprised only 17% of the general membership. WIT remains an all-inclusive convergence of ATA members representing all backgrounds, genders, and specialties, including many who have been strong allies, sponsors, and mentors of their female colleagues at their institutions, within the ATA, and the thyroid community at large.

Over the past year, WIT leadership (M. Regina Castro MD; Debbie Chen MD; Sophie Y. Dream MD, FACS; Natalia Genere MD; Angela M. Leung MD, MSc; Michele Merten MSN, DNP; Naykky Ospina Singh MD; Maria Papaleontiou MD; Rebecca Schweppe PhD; Jessica R. Smith MD; and for the first time also included two male ATA members, Ernest O. Asamoah MD and David S. Cooper MD) organized an informal virtual coffee hour with female leaders in the ATA (Sofie Bliddal MD, PhD; Elizabeth G. Grubbs MD, MS; Megan R. Haymart MD; and Jacqueline Jonklaas MD, PhD, MPH), as moderated by Amy Y. Chen MD, MPH, FACS, FACE, and Aime T. Franco PhD.

The group also organized a webinar series: “Moving from Awareness to Action in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiatives,” presented by Minerva Romero Arenas MD, MPH, and “Fixing the System: Gender Equity and the Future of Women in Medicine,” presented by Eve Bloomgarden MD. We hope that these virtual events, open to all ATA members, offered the chance to network, collaborate, and identify opportunities of how to support each other in our careers.

It was then with great excitement that WIT celebrated its 20-year anniversary at the ATA annual meeting in Montreal this past fall. The symposium recognized Nancy Carrasco MD, MS, as the recipient of the 2022 Valerie Anne Galton Distinguished Lectureship award (the only one of the ATA's six awards named after a woman, and established in 2021 with Sheue-yann Cheng PhD as its first awardee), the two 2022 Women Advancing Thyroid Research grant recipients (Piyasuda Pukkanasut MS and Elisa Pasqual MD, PhD), and M. Regina Castro MD as the 2022 Woman of the Year.

The 20th anniversary celebration of WIT featured a plenary talk by Jennifer Sipos MD, “Correlation of Cytology, Molecular Profiles, and Sonographic Appearance of Thyroid Nodules.” Following this, a discussion between panelists representing women in various specialties and career stages, ranging from those in their early careers to established ATA leaders, was moderated by Eve Bloomgarden MD and David S. Cooper MD. Attendees were able to hear the career paths some senior women have had (including unexpected key opportunities, overcoming barriers, and memorable early involvement in ATA activities), all leading toward the roles they currently hold as ATA leaders.

Other topics covered by the panel discussants included hearing what mentorship and sponsorship mean to early career women, and the role of allyship in achieving gender equity. Discussants shared personal viewpoints of how early career women in the ATA might become more involved, toward the goals of career advancement, service to the society, and creating meaningful opportunities for all. Several suggestions toward advancing gender equity were proposed, including creation of a speakers' bureau of ATA female members, including those who are early career, with expertise and interest in giving talks.

Over the past two decades and through continued advocacy, empowerment, and allyship, WIT aims to foster an environment that highlights the achievements and contributions of women advancing thyroid research and clinical care, and to promote gender equity in the thyroidology workforce. Women leaders at the ATA now are starting to reflect the demographics of its membership more closely.

As was so poignantly described at the WIT anniversary celebration in Montreal, while there were only 4 female ATA presidents in the society's first 85 years (Virginia Kneeland Krantz MD in 1962–1963, Constance S. Pittman MD in 1991–1992, Carole A. Spencer PhD in 2002–2003, and Rebecca S. Bahn MD in 2008–2009), there have already been 3 female presidents over the past 5 years (Elizabeth Pearce MD MSc 2018–2019, Martha A. Zeiger MD 2019–2020, and Julie Ann Sosa MD, MA, FACS 2022–2023).

In addition, the proportion of women on the current ATA board of directors has risen to be more proportionate of the general ATA membership. Moreover, beginning in 2021, all three journals of the ATA bundle published by Mary Ann Liebert Inc. are led by female editor-in-chiefs: Anna M. Sawka MD PhD, Thyroid; Angela M. Leung MD MSc, Clinical Thyroidology; and Catherine F. Sinclair MBBS FRACS FACS, Video Endocrinology. It is also notable that over half of the ATA committee chairs in the current governance year of the society are women.

It is critical to acknowledge the allies, mentors, and sponsors of women in the ATA, who have actively made the society a more inclusive community, toward the aim of elevating the careers and work of all its members. Even though much work remains to be done, significant progress has been made in creating a more equitable environment for scientists and clinicians, including within the community that is the ATA. The growing enthusiastic support for the ATA's WIT community over the past 20 years is palpable, and continued efforts are needed to ensure that equality continues to move forward.