The Endocrine Society is proud to introduce our new Endocrine Society Guideline Methodologists (ESGMs). The primary role of ESGMs is to assist in the development of our Clinical Practice Guidelines by guiding writing committees through the implementation of the rigorous GRADE methodology, thus ensuring that our guidelines maintain the very highest standards of quality.
Juan P. Brito is an Associate Professor of Medicine and Consultant and Chair of Quality in the Division of Endocrinology at Mayo Clinic. He has authored 135 peer review manuscripts, including 44 systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Many of these reviews were commissioned by the Endocrine Society in support of our guidelines (e.g., two reviews for the 2018 update of the Endocrine Society Guidelines on Testosterone Therapy in Men with Hypogonadism). Dr. Brito served as the guideline methodologist for the Endocrine Society guidelines on Testosterone Therapy in Men with Hypogonadism; the American Thyroid Association’s guideline for patients with Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer; and as an expert panelist in the BMJ Rapid Recommendation Guideline for Treatment of Subclinical Hypothyroidism. Part of his research has focused on guideline development rigor, and he is an advocate for incorporating patient values and preferences when developing guideline recommendations. At Mayo, he is the Director of the Shared Decision-Making National Resource Center and the Director of Late-Stage Translational Research in the Mayo Clinic CTSA, and Investigator of the Knowledge and Research Unit. In these roles, Dr. Brito leads studies developing, testing, and implementing tools that translate guideline recommendations into practice, including several tools in diabetes, osteoporosis, thyroid nodules and thyroid cancer.
Christopher McCartney completed medical school and Internal Medicine residency training at the University of Mississippi. He completed fellowship training in Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism at the University of Virginia, where he has been on faculty since 2002. In 2007, he obtained a Master of Science in Health Evaluation Sciences (University of Virginia). Dr. McCartney considers himself to be a general clinical endocrinologist with special interests in reproductive endocrinology and thyroid disease. His research interests primarily relate to the neuroendocrinology of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Dr. McCartney has served on the Endocrine Society’s Clinical Guidelines Committee since 2016, most recently as the Chair (2018-2021). Dr. McCartney is a past Program Director for the Endocrinology and Metabolism Fellowship Program at the University of Virginia, and a past President for the Association of Program Directors in Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism (APDEM).
Naykky Singh Ospina is an endocrinologist and healthcare researcher at the University of Florida. She is an investigator of the Knowledge and Research Unit in Endocrinology. Her research program focuses on evidence-based medicine and patient centered endocrinology with emphasis on the diagnostic and management decisions faced by patients with thyroid disease. She currently holds a career development award from the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Singh Ospina has methodological expertise in systematic reviews and meta-analysis having published >15 reviews in the field of endocrinology. Many of these reviews were completed for the Endocrine Society, generating the evidence reviews for the guideline committee to support four clinical practice guidelines. She also led an umbrella review that evaluated the methodological quality of 84 diagnostic systematic reviews in endocrinology. This work provided insight of methodological areas in need of improvement to assure trustworthy results. She serves as an early career reviewer for the NIH and the National Research Mentoring Network. Additionally, she was a writing committee member for the BMJ Rapid Recommendations for subclinical hypothyroidism guideline in 2019, which used the GRADE methodology. She is the first author of the new chapter in the Williams Textbook of Endocrinology, “Navigating Clinical Practice Guidelines in Endocrinology” that summarizes the goals, development process (focusing on GRADE) and use of guidelines to provide care. In her work she has also evaluated the potential use of clinical practice guidelines to identify critical areas for research.