Officers

Dr. Ralph Tufano, President

Dr. Tufano was the Charles W. Cummings MD Endowed Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine from 2012-2021. Dr. Tufano had served as the department’s Director of the Division of Head and Neck Endocrine Surgery from 2011-2021 as its first director. He also established the American Head and Neck Society accredited fellowship in Endocrine Surgery there in 2014. He has served on the Board of the American Thyroid Association (ATA). He was also instrumental in the establishment of the Surgical Affairs Committee for the ATA and served as its inaugural co-chair. He is a past chair of the American Academy of Otolaryngology’s Endocrine Surgery Committee and served on the American Head and Neck Society’s Endocrine Section Board. He has authored over 260 peer-reviewed papers, and more than 40 textbook chapters related to thyroid and parathyroid diseases. He has also edited two textbooks in the field. His research interests include novel directed therapies for the treatment of thyroid and parathyroid diseases, clinical outcomes research including transoral thyroid and parathyroid surgery, and determining the value propositions for thyroid and parathyroid surgical care episodes. After 21 years at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Dr. Tufano joined the Sarasota Memorial Health Care System in 2021 to direct the First Physicians Group Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Endocrine Center that consists of a dedicated Thyroid and Parathyroid Center and Head and Neck Cancer Center. He was appointed the FPG Director of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery in May 2024 and has already grown this program in all disciplines. He is now a Clinical Professor of Surgery at the Florida State University College of Medicine.

Dr. Mary Beth Cunnane, President Elect

Dr. Claire Graves, Secretary

Dr. Claire Graves is an Associate Professor of Surgery in the Section of Endocrine Surgery at the University of California Davis in Sacramento, specializing in the treatment of patients with disorders of the thyroid, parathyroid, and adrenal glands. She completed general surgery residency at Columbia University Medical Center and clinical fellowship in Endocrine Surgery at the University of California San Francisco. One of the first physicians to offer RFA for thyroid nodules in Northern California, she is Co-Director of the Center for Interventional Thyroidology at UC Davis. She is a recipient of the American Association of Endocrine Surgeons’ Paul LoGerfo Research Award and an invited lecturer and instructor nationally on thyroid ablation techniques.

Dr. Catherine McManus, Treasurer

Dr. Catherine McManus is an Associate Professor of Surgery and Chief of the Section of Endocrine Surgery at the Medical College of Wisconsin, specializing in the treatment of thyroid, parathyroid, and adrenal disease. She received her medical degree from the University of Wisconsin Madison and subsequently completed her general surgery training at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center. During her residency, she earned a Master's Degree in Clinical Research Methods from Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. She completed her endocrine surgery fellowship at Columbia University Medical Center. She served as the Vice Chair of the NASIT Program Committee for the 2nd Annual meeting in Sarasota, FL (2023-2024) and then as Chair of the Program Committee for the 3rd Annual meeting in Washington DC (2024-2025) and the 4th Annual meeting in Portland, OR (2025-2026).