American Thyroid Association Honors Spyridoula Maraka, M.D., with National Thyroid Research Award
| LITTLE ROCK — Spyridoula Maraka, M.D., M.S., an assistant professor in the College of Medicine at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), is one of three women nationwide to receive the 2020 Women Advancing Thyroid Research Award from the American Thyroid Association (ATA).
The award recognizes and honors women who are leading outstanding thyroid research. Maraka’s research focuses on hypothyroidism in pregnancy and subclinical hypothyroidism in older adults.
“I am honored to receive this award from ATA. Research takes a village. I’m grateful for the support I’ve received from UAMS and the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System as well as my research mentors and collaborators in the United States and internationally,” said Maraka, who works in the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism within the Department of Internal Medicine at UAMS. She is also the program director of the Endocrinology Fellowship at UAMS.
Her passion for hypothyroidism research was ignited when she noticed knowledge gaps regarding optimal care for pregnant women with the condition. Similarly, her research studies are based on emerging evidence suggesting older adults with subclinical hypothyroidism are over diagnosed and over treated.
“These inspired me to design studies and collaborate with other researchers with the goal to overcome our uncertainty by producing higher quality evidence and support patient-centered endocrinology,” she said.
In addition to her duties at UAMS, Maraka is a physician at the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System and an investigator in the Knowledge and Evaluation Research Unit for Mayo Clinic. She also serves on the editorial board for Thyroid, the official journal of the ATA, and is recognized for her work in the journal’s article, “Clinical Outcomes after Discontinuation of Thyroid Hormone Replacement: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.”
Maraka received her medical degree with summa cum laude honors from the University of Athens School of Medicine in Athens, Greece. She then completed her residency in internal medicine at the University of Connecticut as well as a clinical fellowship in endocrinology, diabetes, metabolism and nutrition at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.
UAMS is the state’s only health sciences university, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a hospital; a main campus in Little Rock; a Northwest Arkansas regional campus in Fayetteville; a statewide network of regional campuses; and eight institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, Psychiatric Research Institute, Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, Translational Research Institute, Institute for Digital Health & Innovation and the Institute for Community Health Innovation. UAMS includes UAMS Health, a statewide health system that encompasses all of UAMS’ clinical enterprise. UAMS is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 3,485 students, 915 medical residents and fellows, and seven dental residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 11,000 employees, including 1,200 physicians who provide care to patients at UAMS, its regional campuses, Arkansas Children’s, the VA Medical Center and Baptist Health. Visit www.uams.edu or uamshealth.com. Find us on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube or Instagram.###