After going a bit left field and geopolitical in the last issue, time to return to the endocrine pantheon and dedicate an issue to that quintessential endocrine organ, the thyroid. The prevalence of thyroid disorders, the relative ease with which it can be physically examined and imaged and the inability of anyone to enter a hospital department for anything without having a TSH measured, means the workings of this gland are familiar to many.

But do not let this familiarity breed contempt because there are still challenges and important unanswered questions and we are here to help. For jobbing clinicians faced with the question ‘T3 or not T3?’ on a daily basis, help is at hand with a concise and hugely informative piece from Mark Vanderpump. For those who wonder if there may ever be something better out there than repeat prescriptions, look to Tony Hollenberg’s article on the exciting and rapidly progressing field of thyroid regeneration. Vicki Smith takes us through the science behind emerging therapies for radioiodine refractory thyroid cancer while Nadia Schoenmakers keeps us up to speed on the mechanistic detail underlying congenital hypothyroidism. Also, read Joe Straw’s story on his struggles with this condition as a reminder of how things can all too easily go awry.

Articles on Clinical Research Networks from John Wilding and a successful Society sponsored meeting from Paul Foster and Jonathan Wolf Mueller again speak to the power of working together to be more than the sum of the parts. We also shamelessly roll our own log and show off the best of what is coming up in Harrogate this November.

Talking of ‘the best’, I finish with the sad news that Jennie Evans is moving on from her current position as Managing Editor on The Endocrinologist to exciting pastures new. She won’t say it herself so I will; Jennie has been the real engine at the heart of this magazine and has been an absolute joy as a colleague, remaining good humoured, patient and energetic however behind or disorganised the rest of us seem to be. I know she will be missed by all at the Society and we wish her only good things for the future. Thanks Jennie!

See you all in Harrogate.

Best wishes

Tony Coll

Editor, The Endocrinologist