Celebrating Successes and Grappling with Global Challenges in the New Year

Greetings to our Thyroid journal family for the New Year, 2024! In 2023, we celebrated the American Thyroid Association (ATA) Centennial, and I would like to express special thanks to the authors of the Special Centennial Articles that were featured each month in Thyroid. We had a wonderful and memorable ATA meeting in Washington in the fall of 2023, with opportunities to meet with friends and colleagues, reflect on the past, discuss advances in clinical practice, and hear about cutting-edge research. We now begin a new century for the ATA.

In 2023, we observed the end of the declaration by the World Health Organization of the COVID-19 as a global health emergency, although with the realization that we are still dealing with COVID-19 as we move forward in our daily life activities. Although it is not the intention of this editorial to express specific political views, the global challenges we are grappling with affect all of us and are cause for concern and reflection. Some of these challenges include climate change, inequity, intolerance and hatred, ongoing-armed conflicts, and the questions surrounding artificial intelligence.

In reflecting on the past year, I would like to highlight some notable publications in Thyroid. First, I would like to recognize two critically important official ATA statements, specifically, a review of current clinical and laboratory status pertaining to measurement of thyrotropin and thyroid hormones, ¹ and a review of general principles for the safe performance, training, and adoption of ablation techniques for benign thyroid nodules. ² I would also like to acknowledge an extremely important Special Article published by Ali et al., which provides a concise summary of the 2023 update of the Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology. ³ The ATA statements ^1,2 and the Bethesda System Cytopathology articles ³ are essential must-reads, for anyone who is active in clinical thyroidology.

Although there were many excellent contributions to our journal from the past year for us celebrate, a few have received particular attention. The most highly cited review article from 2023, authored by Fennemen et al., was a on the topic of thyroid hormone metabolism in the gut and its clinical Implications. ⁴ Furthermore, the most cited original research article from 2023, written by Soheili-Nezhad et al., examined the genetic link between thyroid dysfunction and psychiatric disorders ⁵ ; this article was the subject of a joint Social Media Editors' Pick video editorial and author interview published by Drs. Wu and Angell in Video Endocrinology. ⁶ The most frequently downloaded original article was from Dr. Miyauchi et al. and summarized the results of their remarkable 30-year experience with active surveillance of papillary thyroid microcarcinomas. ⁷

On a sad note, in the time since my last New Years' editorial, we have observed the loss of Dr. Jacques Dumont, who passed away in February 2023. ⁸ Dr. Dumont is remembered as a giant in our field and is sincerely missed, as reflected in an In Memoriam, published in our journal last year. ⁸

There is not sufficient space to highlight all of the excellent contributions to Thyroid in the past year, but heartfelt thanks to all of our authors with the hope that you will continue contributing to our journal (as authors and reviewers of your colleagues' work!).

Next, I would like to celebrate the hard work of our editors, editorial board, reviewers, and all of the staff involved in publishing Thyroid. Firstly, I would like to pay special tribute to Dr. Trevor Angell, as Editorial Board Member of the Year, who has served as the founding Social Media Editor of the journal and concurrently served as a very diligent and insightful reviewer on the editorial board. Trevor will be starting in his new role as the Editor-in-Chief of Clinical Thyroidology and I look forward to collaborating with him and the Editor-in-Chief of Video Endocrinology, Dr. Catherine Sinclair. I am excited to announce that Dr. Avital Harari is now beginning her position as our Social Media Editor for Thyroid, and I greatly look forward to working with her.

I would also like to take this opportunity pay tribute to Dr. Angela Leung, who is completing her term as Editor-in-Chief of Clinical Thyroidology. I greatly admire Angela's phenomenal leadership at Clinical Thyroidology, and I am very grateful to her for her support and mentorship in the ATA journal family.

Several exceptionally productive editorial board members, who have consistently contributed highly insightful and timely reviews, include (in alphabetical order): Drs. Guisseppe Barbesino, Anita Boelen, Juan P. Brito, C. Christofer Juhlin, Chan Kwon Jung, Won Gu Kim, Naomi Kiyota, Virginia LiVolsi, and Don McLeod. I would also like to welcome the following individuals to our editorial board (in alphabetical order): Drs. Ana Oliveira Hoff, Brooke Nickel, Naykky Singh Ospina, Eyal Robenshtok, Jonathan Wadsley, and Ari J. Wassner. A special note of appreciation is also extended to the following outgoing editorial board members, who have completed their term at Thyroid: Drs. Jung Hwan Baek, Carlos Benbassat, and Luca Persani. Congratulations are in order for Dr. Persani, as he begins his new role as Editor-in-Chief of the European Thyroid Journal, and I look forward to collaborating with him in his new position.

I would like to extend a huge thank you to our fantastic team of Associate Editors, including Drs. Sheue-yann Cheng, Leonidas Duntas, Cosimo Durante, Melanie Goldfarb, Haixia Guan, Megan Haymart, Joachim Pohlenz, Douglas Ross, and Mark Zafereo. The time and valuable recommendations of these highly respected experts in our field, who are key for shaping Thyroid, are greatly appreciated. I am also extremely grateful to all reviewers who have shared their time and expertise in the peer review process.

Special thanks also go to the ATA leadership, especially Amanda Perl (Executive Director, ATA), as well as the ATA staff working in our editorial office, Claudia Crail-Muñoz and Ms. Sharleene Cano. At Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., our publisher, the following individuals need to be recognized for their many contributions: Marie McVeigh, Jamie Devereaux, Lisa Brodsky, Susan Jensen, and Sophie Reisz. Last but not least, we are grateful for the superb work of Amanda Montes de Oca who oversees the production of Thyroid at Westchester Publishing Services.

Finally, as we gratefully celebrate the successes and achievements of the past year, despite the complex global challenges, I would like to extend my best wishes for 2024 to you and the entire thyroid family!