Executive committee
Dr. Steven Hodak, President
Dr. Steven P. Hodak, MD is a founding member of NASIT and an endocrinologist and interventional thyroid specialist at NYU Langone Health in New York where he is a professor of Medicine. He is an internationally recognized expert in thyroid molecular diagnostic testing as well as minimally invasive techniques such as ethanol and radiofrequency ablation for treating thyroid cancer and thyroid nodules. Dr. Hodak hosts a weekly radio broadcast called “Medical Grand Rounds” on Doctor Radio Sirius XM channel 110.
Dr. Jonathon Russell, President Elect
Dr Jonathon O. Russell is the Director of the Division of Head and Neck Endocrine Surgery at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, MD, where he is also the Director of the Multispecialty Thyroid Tumor Center. His research has focused on novel innovations in thyroid and parathyroid surgery, including minimally invasive techniques such as radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and remote access surgery (such as transoral thyroidectomy).
Dr. Julia Noel, Secretary
Dr. Julia Noel is a head and neck surgeon with fellowship training in endocrine surgery and board certification in otolaryngology. She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery at Stanford University School of Medicine. She specializes in the surgical care of both benign and malignant thyroid and parathyroid conditions. She has additional expertise and training in minimally invasive approaches and ultrasound-guided techniques performed in the office, particularly chemical and thermal ablative techniques.
Dr. Kepal Patel, Treasurer
Dr. Kepal Patel is the Chief of the Division of Endocrine Surgery and the Director of the Thyroid Interdisciplinary Program at NYU Langone Health. He has particular expertise in the multidisciplinary treatment of Thyroid and Parathyroid disease along with other head and neck tumors. He earned his M.D. from UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, and completed his Oncologic Head and Neck Surgery training at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Dr. Patel’s work has been recognized by numerous awards from prestigious societies such as the American Society of Clinical Oncology, American Head and Neck Society, American Association of Endocrine Surgeons, and the American Thyroid Association. He currently serves in multiple leadership roles both locally and nationally and is on the editorial board of several prominent journals. He has over 75 peer reviewed publications, 12 book chapters, >40 invited lectureships. He is the current past President of the NY Head and Neck Society, Recorder of the American Association of Endocrine Surgeons and Founding member and Treasurer of the North American Society of Interventional Thyroidology (NASIT).
Dr. Chelsey Baldwin, Councilor
Dr. Chelsey Baldwin joined the inaugural executive committee of NASIT in 2022 and is a board-certified endocrinologist with clinical and research interest in thyroid disease management. She trained at New York University and is currently on faculty at The George Washington University in Washington, DC.
Dr. Baldwin performs thyroid ultrasonography, fine needle aspiration, and minimally invasive techniques for the management of symptomatic or hormonally active thyroid nodules, including ethanol and radiofrequency ablation. In additional to her clinical duties, Dr Baldwin is an Assistant Professor of Medicine and takes an active role in medical student, resident, and fellow education. Dr. Baldwin is also a published author on topics including thyroid hormonal complications, thyroid ultrasonography, and Minimally Invasive techniques for the Management of Thyroid disease. Dr. Baldwin is an invited speaker to professional organizations both within the US and internationally on the topic of radiofrequency ablation.
Dr. Catherine Sinclair, Councilor
Dr. Catherine Sinclair is a dual fellowship trained, dual board certified (Australia and the United States) Head and Neck Surgeon. Between 2010 and 2021, she worked in New York where she served as the Director of Division of Head and Neck Surgery, Mount Sinai West Hospital. In 2021 she relocated to Melbourne Australia where she currently resides. Dr. Sinclair is an internationally recognized expert in surgical management of neck endocrine diseases. In 2016, she developed and implemented a novel methodology for intraoperative neuromonitoring of the recurrent laryngeal and vagus nerves. She has been an early adopter of radiofrequency ablation for treatment of benign thyroid nodules and has helped advance the field of thermal ablative technologies. In August 2019, she performed the first radiofrequency ablation for a benign thyroid nodule in New York and, in April 2021, she performed the first radiofrequency ablation in Australia. Dr Sinclair has authored multiple peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters and has been the guest editor for a number of journals on topics relating to thyroid cancer and environmental exposures, thermal ablation and neuromonitoring. She is the Editor in Chief of VideoEndocrinology and an Executive Committee of the Endocrine Section of the American Head and Neck Society. She lectures throughout the world and was inducted into the Triological Society in 2020.
Dr. Ralph Tufano, Councilor
Dr. Tufano has served as 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 has served as the department’s Director of the Division of Head and Neck Endocrine Surgery since 2011 and the American Head and Neck Society accredited fellowship in Endocrine Surgery. 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 also the recent past chair of the American Academy of Otolaryngology’s Endocrine Surgery Committee and serves on the American Head and Neck Society’s Endocrine Section Board. He has authored over 200 peer-reviewed papers, and more than 40 textbook chapters related to thyroid and parathyroid diseases. 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.
Dr. Vaninder Dhillon, IT Chair
Dr. Vaninder K Dhillon MD FACS is a dual fellowship trained Otolaryngologist at Johns Hopkins University, in the National Capital Region (Washington DC/Bethesda MD). She completed her Otolaryngology training at the University of Southern California and did her laryngology and endocrine head and neck surgery fellowships at Johns Hopkins University. She has a dual practice whereby she does in office based laryngology, radiofrequency ablation of thyroid nodules and thyroid/parathyroid surgery.
Dr. Richard Harding, Program Chair
Richard Harding MD has been practicing General and Endocrine Surgery in Phoenix Az for 26 years. His clinical interests include surgical diseases of the thyroid, parathyroid, and adrenal glands. He has been performing advanced laparoscopic surgery for 26 years and robotic surgery for 12 years. He introduced Transoral endoscopic thyroidectomy vestibular approach to Arizona over 5 years ago and introduced RFA of Thyroid nodules over two years ago.
Dr. Maria Papaleontiou, Ethics Chair
Maria Papaleontiou, MD, is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Metabolism, Endocrinology and Diabetes and a Research Assistant Professor at the Institute of Gerontology at the University of Michigan. She is currently an NIH-funded health services researcher and both her clinical and research interests focus on personalized management of thyroid disease, nodules, and cancer, particularly in older adults. She contributed to the AACE clinical disease state review on the clinical utility of minimally invasive interventional procedures in the management of benign and malignant thyroid lesions, and is a member of the ATA writing group for an upcoming statement on ablative therapies for benign thyroid nodules. She is a recipient of several national awards including the 2021 ASCI Young Physician Scientist Award, the 2021 AACE Rising Star in Endocrinology Award and the 2020 ATA Women Advancing Thyroid Research Award.
Dr. Yinin Hu, Chair, Education and Research
Dr. Yinin Hu is an endocrine surgeon at University of Maryland. Dr. Yu attended medical school at Washington University St. Louis, followed by general surgery residency at University of Virginia and surgical oncology fellowship at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. His academic focus is in comparative- and cost-effectiveness research in the management of benign and malignant thyroid conditions and other solid-organ cancers. His research is supported by the American College of Surgeons, the University of Maryland Greenebaum Cancer Center, and an NIH/NCATS KL2 career development award.
Dr. Claire Graves, Chair, Membership
Dr. Claire Graves is a surgeon scientist at the University of California Davis. She completed her general surgery training at Columbia University in New York City and her Endocrine surgery fellowship at the University of California San Francisco. She specializes in the comprehensive, personalized surgical treatment of patients with disorders of the thyroid, parathyroid, and adrenal glands. She has special clinical interest and expertise in surgical innovation and minimally invasive techniques, such as ethanol and radiofrequency ablation of thyroid nodules, remote access thyroidectomy, and robotic and retroperitoneal laparoscopic adrenalectomy.