News

Please join us at UC San Diego Shiley Eye Institute on Saturday, May 7th for a special all-day patient and family mini-conference - click here to register!

Cost for the event will be $10, which includes a light breakfast and boxed lunch.  If this expense is a hardship, please see the instructions below for submitting a scholarship application.

The Graves’ Disease & Thyroid Foundation will host a FREE patient education event at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront (Bristol Room), 700 Aliceanna Street, Baltimore, MD 21202 on Monday, April 11th from 4:30-6:00 p.m..

Please join us to to connect with fellow patients and family members and to have your questions answered by experts! Joining us will be:

David Cooper, MD, Director, Thyroid Clinic, Johns Hopkins Medicine
Dawn M. Elfenbein, MD, MPH, Clinical Instructor, Surgery, University of California, Irvine School of Medicine

The event is free and open to patients living with Graves’ disease, thyroid eye disease, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, thyroid cancer, and related disorders. Friends and family members are welcome!

Please RSVP via Eventbrite or call 877-643-3123.

A special Thank You to Dr. Cooper and Dr. Elfenbein for joining us and to the American Association of Endocrine Surgeons for providing space for this event! If you are looking for information on thyroid surgery or if you need to find an experienced surgeon in your area, please visit the AAES Patient Education Site at http://endocrinediseases.org/

If you are in the Orlando, FL area, please join us for a free public health forum on Sunday, October 18th from 1:00-3:00 p.m. at the Walt Disney World Swan & Dolphin Resort! The event is co-hosted by the American Thyroid Association (ATA) and the member organizations of the ATA's Alliance for Patient Education, including the Graves' Disease & Thyroid Foundation.  Physicians and patient representatives will be on hand to discuss your questions and concerns. The event is FREE, but RSVPs are requested to ensure that we have enough seating. To register, please e-mail ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors' Association, Inc. at [email protected] and indicate in your e-mail the thyroid-related condition you are most concerned about. For additional information, please click here to view the meeting flyer.

​The Graves' Disease & Thyroid Foundation is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year! Founded in 1990 as the National Graves' Disease Foundation, the GDATF has been providing help and hope to patients and family members for two and a half decades!  Founder and Chair Emeritus Nancy Hord Patterson, Ph.D. (pictured left) recalls, “When I was initially diagnosed...I began to look for information, and for people to talk to that had faced the same concerns. When this proved impossible, I began an effort to start this Foundation. With the support of my Endocrinologist and Reconstructive surgeon, I was led to medical experts both nationally and internationally who were most willing to share their expertise.” When Dr. Lawrence C. Wood, founder of the Thyroid Foundation of America, joined our organization as a director, our focus expanded to assisting patients with Graves' disease, thyroid eye disease, Hashimoto's thyroiditis, thyroid nodules, and related disorders.

Without access to email or Internet, the Foundation’s early communications were accomplished primarily via phone and snail mail. Today, the Foundation provides a full range of services, including: