ThyCARE (Thyroid and Thyroid CAncer REsearch)

Addressing thyroid health and improving the care of patients across the thyroid cancer continuum

ThyCARE Team picnic, May 2023

Pictured above: Nazanene Esfandiari, MD; Maria Papaleontiou, MD; Megan Haymart, MD; Debbie Chen, MD

Pictured above: Elizabeth Hesseltine, NP; Frank Worden, MD

The goal of ThyCARE is to improve patient care through research. There are two teams committed to thyroid clinical research:

1) Thyroid health services research. The health services research team led by Dr. Haymart focuses on research topics related to the diagnosis, prognosis, management, and survivorship of thyroid diseases and thyroid cancer. Our multidisciplinary team is devoted to conducting research studies that directly impact patient care, by examining healthcare delivery, healthcare outcomes and disparities, with the goal of achieving health equity for all patients with thyroid disease and cancer. The team has extensive experience with large national cancer registries, population based studies, survey studies, and most recently behavioral interventions. Our ultimate goal is to improve clinical outcomes, reduce patient harm, and work towards eliminating healthcare disparities in thyroid care.

2) Thyroid cancer clinical trials. For more than fifteen years, Dr. Worden has led the thyroid cancer clinical trials team at the University of Michigan. Clinical trials offer potential benefits to patients with advanced thyroid cancer. It is important for patients with advanced thyroid cancer to have treatment options readily available and to have a team of caregivers who are trained to manage these complex patients. Only through trials with novel therapeutics can we improve survival.

Collaborators include:

- - - endocrinologists
    - oncologists
    - surgeons
    - geriatricians
    - primary care physicians
    - biostatisticians
    - health economists
    - epidemiologists
    - survey methodologists

Topics that can be addressed with our team's research:

- - - The rise in thyroid cancer incidence and its implications
    - Quality of care
    - Decreasing low-value care
    - Variation in management
    - The role of physicians, patients, and caregivers in treatment decisions
    - Communication between physicians and patients
    - Thyroid cancer outcomes
    - Thyroid and aging
    - Thyroid conditions in vulnerable patient groups
    - Disparities in thyroid care
    - Use of imaging in thyroid cancer
    - Interventions to improve care
    - Resource utilization
    - Trial eligibility and enrollment
    - Novel agents to treat advanced thyroid cancer
    - Survivorship

@ThyCare

Questions or Comments? Please contact Brittany Gay