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The 15th International Thyroid Congress, 18-23 Oct 2015, Orlando, USA

The recently concluded 15th International Thyroid Congress held in the Walt Disney Resort Swan & Dolphin Resort in Orlando, FL, USA, from October 18-23, 2015 had set some records of its own compared with previous ITCs.
The number of registered participants and accompanying persons in the Orlando ITC was 2,436 from 88 countries represented (as of October 19).  While this number was lower than the Paris ITC in 2010 which drew 3,326 participants and guests, there were more trainees (445 vs 371) in 2015.
There were 52.3% males compared with 47.7% female registrants.  The number of women was noted to be increasing compared with previous congresses.  More than the majority of the attendees were MD (59.1%) with MD-PhD (17.3%), PhD (9.8%), and DO, RN, PA, NP comprising 2%.
Endocrinologists account for 55.9% of participants, followed by Endocrine Surgeons (10.9%), Oncologists (4.5%), ENT (4.5%), Nuclear Medicine  (3.1%).  Participants described their work to be in the academe (39.6%), hospital based (32.9%), and private practice (13.7%).
The ITC is composed of 4 Sister Societies meeting together.  Attending the 15th ITC were 516 ATA members, 122 ETA, 96 LATS and 87 AOTA.  However, Non-Members comprise a sizable number with ATA 245, AOTA 238, LATS 186 and ETA 144.
(The 15th ITC data were shared by John Morris, ATA Secretary with Teofilo San Luis Jr, AOTA Secretary 2010-2015.)

This year’s ITC also featured the first Chester “Chip” Ridgway Training Course geared for young thyroidologists, coming from the ATA.  There was also a session on the History of the 4 Sister Societies with AOTA’s significant landmarks provided by AOTA Honorary President Shigenobu Nagataki of Japan.  A Panel Board photographs of goiter and other iodine deficiency disorders and of the men and women who contributed to the science of thyroidology since BCE era was displayed.  These provided ITC participants with information on important milestones in the course of many centuries since the thyroid gland was discovered to play role in human health.  (Download ATA website www.american thyroid association & click on Clark T. Sawin History Resource Center).

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15th ITC : Nagataki-Fujifilm Prize Lecture Delivered

Prof Akira Miyauchi of Japan delivered the 2015 NAGATAKI-FUJIFILM Prize Lecture during the 15th International Thyroid Congress held in the Walt Disney World Swan & Dolphin Resort in Orlando, Florida, USA.

Prof Miyauchi is the President & COO of Kuma Hospital, Center for Excellence in Thyroid Care in Kobe, Japan. He is an endocrine surgeon, currently serving as Chairman of the Asian Association of Endocrine Surgeons, with special interest in thyroid diseases and an almost a thousand publications in English & Japanese journals on his work on thyroid cancer for more than 40 years. Prof Miyauchi’s topic was “Toward best management of thyroid cancer.”

AOTA has been giving Prize Lecture Awards since 1980.  Through the years, the Prize Lectures came under various names as defined by the sponsors. It was in 2010 during the 14th International Thyroid Congress held in Paris, France, that a fusion of Prize Lecture Awards came about, given regardless of nationality.  The Prize Lecture has been named the NAGATAKI-FUJIFILM Prize.

The topics of the Prize Lectures have been very varied according to the field of interest or researches of the awardees.  The clinical dimensions of thyroid disease were the subject matter of most Prize Lectures, more frequently than basic & translational researches.   The favorites, in decreasing order, were Graves’ disease and its various facets, iodine deficiency and its effects; receptors, antibodies, genetic phenotypes; thyroid & pregnancy, neonatal screening, and thyroid cancer.  (A listing of the Prize Lecturers and their topics can be gleaned from the AOTA website.)

The 2015 Prize Lecturer joined a distinguished group of Prize Awardees from the Region.  He was the 6th Awardee to speak on thyroid cancer and the 16th Japanese to deliver the AOTA Prize Lecture.

The Awardee proposed calcitonin-doubling time and thyroglobulin-doubling time as potent prognostic factors for medullary and papillary thyroid carcinoma, respectively. These values provide important information for best managements of patients with these cancers. Furthermore he carefully studied the preservation and reconstruction of the recurrent laryngeal nerve in thyroid cancer surgery and is working for the implementation of intraoperative neural monitoring. Additionally he discovered a new pathological entity of thyroid cancer: Intrathyroidal epithelial thymoma (ITET) / CASTLE, and found the route of acute suppurative thyroiditis and named it pyriform sinus fistula.

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15th ITC : AOTA Council 2015-2020 Organized

The new governing Council of AOTA for the next 5 year-term of office has been constituted following the election of the Flag Bearers (Officers) during the AOTA Council Meeting held on October 19, 2020, at the Walt Disney World Swan & Dolphin Resort in Orlando, Florida, USA.

Elected President was Takashi Akamizu (Japan) with Teofilo San Luis Jr (Philippines) and Wei Ping Teng (China) as Vice Presidents, Won Bae Kim (Korea) as Secretary, and Masanobu Yamada (Japan) as Treasurer and concurrent member of the Program Organizing Committee (POC).  The POC will be headed by Liu Chao (China) with Minho Shong (Korea) as another member.

Rejoining the new AOTA Council are Duncan Topliss (Australia), Fereidoun Azizi (Iran) and RV Jayakumar (India).  Coming in for the first time are Iwao Sugitani (Japan), Sun Wook Kim (Korea), Tjin-Shing Jap (Taiwan), Faridul Alam (Bangladesh) and Tjokorda Pemayun (Indonesia).

The Council will constitute a Task Force to go over AOTA’s Articles of Association (AoA) and propose amendments to guide AOTA in meeting the various challenges of the organization, notably in the area of membership and representation in the Council.  The last amendments to the AoA were introduced by the Council in November 2009.

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15th ITC: Eleven AOTA Young Investigators Recongnized

The AOTA recognized 11 authors of abstracts submitted for the 15th International Thyroid Congress held in the Walt Disney World Swan & Dolphin Resort in Orlando, Florida, USA. The recognition was done during the AOTA General Assembly on December 19, 2015. The Young Investigators Award carries with it US$ 1,000 prize and a Certificate of Recognition.

The tabulation of the YIA names, institutions and countries with the titles of their abstracts is shown below:

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Nagataki is ETA Honorary Member

officer_nagatakiThe European Thyroid Association, in its 35the Annual Meeting in Krakow, Poland, last September 2011, conferred upon Prof Shigenobu Nagataki, an Honorary Membership.  According to the ETA Statutes, Honorary Membership is conferred upon persons of great distinction who have rendered an exceptional service to the study of the thyroid gland.

As Honorary Member, Prof Nagataki joins an illustrious list composed of Jacques Dumont (Belgium), Ragnar Ekholm (Sweden), Bror-Axel Lamberg (Finland), Gabriella Morreale de Escobar (Spain), George Hennemann (The Netherlands), Aldo Pinchera (Italy) & E. Dillwyn Williams (UK).  It is noteworthy that Prof Nagataki is the first Asian to become ETA Honorary Member.

Prof Nagataki is AOTA’s 3rd President from 1985 up to 2000 and currently is its Honorary President.  In Krakow he delivered a Special Report on Fukushima as a plenary lecture

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Azizi is Iran’s Distinguished Scientist for 2011

Fereidoun-Azizi1Prof Fereidoun Azizi has been named by the Iran Academy of Medical Sciences as its Distinguished Scientist for the Year 2011.  This distinction is given to scientific professionals who have proven themselves outstanding in their work in the field. Prof Azizi is head of the Iran Endocrine Society and one of AOTA’s Council Members.  He is the Middle Eastern Regional Coordinator for the International Council for Control of Iodine Deficiency Disorders (ICCIDD) and has been active in thyroid work in his country and the region.  He coordinated the annual World Thyroid Day activities in Iran for the past 3 years. In 2009, he was the recipient of the AOTA Nagataki-Fujifilm Prize given during the 9th AOTA Congress in Nagoya, Japan.

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The 10th International Thyroid Congress, 11-16 Sep 2010, Paris, France

The allure of Paris, France proved irresistible to some 3,000 participants trooping to the Palais des Congres for 5 days in the fashion & cultural capital of the world.  The 14th International Thyroid Congress (ITC) held on September 11-16  was hosted by the European Thyroid Association (ETA) whose turn it was after 20 years.  ITCs rotate every 5 years through the continents (Buenos Aires, Argentina in 2005; Kyoto, Japan in 2000; Toronto, Canada in 1995; The Hague, Netherlands in 1991, instead of 1990).  The Paris Congress was, by far, the largest ITC in terms of attendance. Not surprisingly, since the ITC Program Organizing Committee (composed of 3 members each from ETA, ATA, LATS & AOTA) spared no efforts in developing a tightly-packed scientific program interspersed with Social Events at the historic Versailles and various city tours.

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The 9th Congress of AOTA, 1-4 Nov 2009, Nagoya, Japan

It was in Nagoya, Japan, when AOTA began its every 2-year congress, heralding a more frequent scientific meeting among thyroidologists in and outside the Asian Region.  Held in the Nagoya Congress Center on November 1-4, 2009 and held in conjunction with the 52nd Annual Meeting of the Japan Thyroid Association (JTA), the 9th AOTA Congress featured 2 Prize Lectures, 2 Symposia, 1 ICCIDD Symposium, 22 Oral Presentations, 16 Selected Poster Presentations, 146 Posters, 1 Luncheon Seminar, and a Special Lecture by Prof Martin Schlumberger.  A visit to the famed Nagoya Castle capped the local tour.