1 Jan 2026
A Year-End Message of Gratitude from the AMEND USA Board of Directors
We extend our sincerest gratitude to the AMEND USA community, especially the patients and families we serve as well as the clinicians, researchers, and partners who support and advance our shared mission.
One of the year’s highlights was spending several days together in Austin, Texas, at the 2025 North American Neuroendocrine Tumor Society (NANETS) Annual Multidisciplinary NET Medical Symposium. We ran an educational outreach booth, met with partners and learned from the engaging sessions throughout the event.
We were especially proud to have AMEND USA Board President John Metzcar speak on a panel discussing clinical practice and needs in diverse care settings. With this opportunity, clinicians and researchers from across the world heard directly from the patient community. We very much appreciate the partnership with NANETS that enabled this. As a Board, we took in the latest advances in disease research, met community partners, and began planning for the upcoming year. Finally, in true Austin fashion, we shared a memorable outing to watch the largest colony of bats in North America.
We welcomed Ashlee Russeau-Pletcher as our inaugural Executive Director. Ashlee brings extensive experience in program development; we are grateful for her willingness to jump into this role. We were excited to welcome two new Board members: Thomas Lehrich and Stephanie Alband. Their expertise and energy strengthen AMEND USA’s ability to serve the MEN community. Both bring years of non-profit experience as well as legal and finance skills. Tom is currently President of the Board at the Traumatic Brain Institute while Stephanie just completed a two-year term as Board President of the International Neuroendocrine Tumor Alliance. Furthermore, she was most recently the Executive Director at our peer organization the Pheo Para Alliance. We appreciate their commitment and stepping up to serve the community.
As we reflect on the past year, we are proud of several key accomplishments, including:
- Launching AMEND USA’s Instagram to broaden educational and community-building efforts
- Partnering with UT Southwestern’s Master’s in Genetic Counseling program to offer students real-world experiences in patient advocacy
- Launching a non-profit internship program with the O’Neill School at Indiana University
- Investing in our website to increase findability and bring in new patients
- Continuing to grow in membership
We especially want to thank our fall rotation student Emily Helm for leading the efforts to establish an Instagram program! Follow us on Instagram @amend.usa!
Looking forward to 2026, we are putting our energy into:
- Expanding our educational programming starting with posting short MEN disorders explainers to Instagram
- Collaborating with partner organizations, including the Neuroendocrine Tumor Research Foundation (NETRF) and MedStar Health of Washington, DC to bring new information and research opportunities to the community
- Continuing efforts to strengthen our community through additional student rotations and internships
We deeply appreciate the opportunity to serve the community and look forward to continuing this great work together in the new year!
With gratitude,
The AMEND USA Board of Directors
John Metzcar, PhD
Mary Metzcar
Stephanie Alband, MBA
Jo Grey
Thomas Lehrich, Esq.