After a two-month clinical observership at the Mount Sinai Thyroid Center last summer, the THANC Foundation is thrilled to welcome back Dr. Camilo Gonzalez Velazquez as our 2019-2020 Gutierrez Scholar. After completing his Clinical Endocrinology fellowship program in Monterrey, Mexico, Dr. Gonzalez was named this year’s recipient of the Gerald Gutierrez Memorial Scholarship, a year-long research position at the THANC Foundation dedicated to medical education in head & neck surgery topics. Dr. Gonzalez first developed a strong academic interest in thyroid cancer as a trainee at the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, where he served as Chief Resident in the Endocrinology Division and is currently seeking Endocrine Certification in Neck Ultrasound (ECNU), a designation awarded to physicians who meet competency requirements for diagnostic ultrasound and ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy procedures.
Under the supervision of Dr. Mark Urken and other physicians at the Mount Sinai Thyroid Center, Dr. Gonzalez has been spending his year participating in weekly head and neck tumor board and observing thyroid surgery, patient visits, ultrasounds, and biopsy procedures. In addition, Dr. Gonzalez has been a welcome addition to the THANC Foundation research team, serving as a valuable resource for Research Associates, summer interns, and observers from Spanish-speaking countries. Some of Dr. Gonzalez’s most notable contributions to our research initiatives include his novel research study on extranodal extension in thyroid cancer patients and recent work on papillary thyroid cancer found in neuroendocrine tumor patients, which will be presented at the 2019 Meeting of the American Thyroid Association in Chicago, IL later this year.
In addition to his lengthy contributions in both clinical and research settings at THANC, Dr. Gonzalez has also made an impact on the THANC’s larger outreach efforts, overseeing the translation of our online resources to Spanish as part of our goal to reach as many patients as possible. This substantial undertaking involves translation of all of the video content from both the Thyroid Care Collaborative and the Head and Neck Cancer Guide, a project that will undoubtedly benefit countless patients and families that deal with head and neck and thyroid cancer around the world.
Lastly, Dr. Gonzalez has also established new initiatives at THANC, most recently with his monthly Thyroid Journal Watch. This project allows Dr. Gonzalez to educate researchers and clinicians from many specialties in the Mount Sinai Health System on new developments in thyroid research and education. The Foundation is ecstatic to welcome Dr. Gonzalez as part of the THANC family, and we look forward to his continuing contributions in the clinical, research, and outreach spheres!
30 Stories in 30 Days
September is Thyroid Cancer Awareness Month. For the next 4 weeks, we will post stories written by thyroid cancer survivors, caregivers and friends for our 30 Stories in 30 Days campaign. We hope their perspectives and insight will help others along their journey.
