Bylaws of Foundation, 1974

Rules of the Society
Revised, 2003.

I- NAME AND ADDRESSES

• Sec. 1. Latin American Thyroid Society (LATS) is an association of Latin American scientists interested to promote research in the thyroid field (fundamental and clinical).
  
  
• Sec. 2. The length of the Society shall be indefinite.
  
  
• Sec. 3. The administrative office will be located at the address of the Secretary-Treasurer. The certificate of incorporation was formed under the law of the State of São Paulo, Brazil.

II- AIMS

• Sec. 4. The aims of the association are to promote research in the thyroid field (fundamental and clinical) and improve knowledge of the thyroid gland and its diseases.
  
  
• Sec. 5. To organize and sponsor scientific meetings and courses.
  
  
• Sec. 6. To keep relationship with other international scientific societies.
  

III- MEMBERSHIP

• Sec. 7. Membership shall consist of Active, Corresponding, Honorary and Associate members.
  
  a) Active membership is confined to those citizens or residents in the Latin American continent whose present and established interest is the experimental or clinical investigation of the thyroid gland and its diseases (anatomy, physiology, experimental pathology, biochemistry, biophysics, nuclear medicine, cellular and molecular biology and clinical investigation). Candidates for Active membership must have attended an earlier meeting of LATS and be proposed by two Active members of the Society. Applications must be accompanied by a brief curriculum vitae and a list of the applicant's principal publications (at least 2) in the thyroid field. Applications must be submitted to the Secretary-Treasurer and examined by the Executive Committee. Those receiving the support of two thirds of those present shall be presented to the general Assembly for election in occasion of the LATS meetings.
  
  b) Corresponding membership is confined to citizens of countries, which do not belong to Latin America and approved by the Executive Committee.
  
  c) Honorary membership is conferred upon persons of great distinction who have provided exceptional service to the study of the thyroid gland. Honorary members must be nominated by Active members and approved by the General Assembly.
  
  d) Associate membership is conferred upon those (i) students, young investigators or clinicians that are interested in the study of the thyroid gland; (ii) any person belonging to governmental or non-governmental organizations involved in the study of the thyroid gland, or involved in the implementation/regulation of public health policies regarding any aspects of the thyroid gland. Applications must be submitted to the Secretary-Treasurer and approved by the General Assembly.
  
  
• · Sec. 8. Founder members are all those who joined the Association before June 1st., 1975.

IV- DIRECTION

• Sec. 9. An Executive Committee, constituted by the President, President-Elect, Secretary-Treasurer and nine other members, all Active members, will direct LATS.
  
  
• Sec. 10. Active members attending the general Assembly elect the President. The President shall serve for a two-year period and is not eligible for immediate reelection. The President will be the main executive of LATS, will preside the General assembly and Executive Committee and will represent LATS, together with the Secretary-Treasurer, in the meetings with other international societies.
  
  
• Sec. 11. Active members attending the General Assembly elect the President-Elect. The President-Elect shall serve for a two year period and be presented as candidate for President in the following election. The President-Elect w ill perform the President functions in his absence.
  
  
• Sec. 12. The Secretary-Treasurer is elected by the majority of the Active members attending the General Assembly. Shall serve for a period of 4 years and might be reelected for more two years. The Secretary-Treasurer must take care of LATS correspondence, bills and archives, attend and keep a record of all meetings, report the activities to the Executive Committee, negotiate and sign the contracts in the name of LATS and, together with the President, represent the Society in the meetings with other international societies.
  
  
  
• Sec. 13. The nine members of the Executive Committee will be elected by the majority of the Active members attending the General Assembly and shall serve for a period of two years. The members of the Executive Committee might be reelected.
  
  
• Sec. 14. The Executive Committee or any two Active members of the Society may propose candidates for President, President-Elect and Secretary-Treasurer.
  
  
• Sec. 15. The period of service of all officers will be automatically extended if, during their term of office, the LATS meeting and the LATS General Assembly do not take place.
  
  
• Sec. 16. The President, the Secretary-Treasurer and the Executive Committee shall the right to establish sub-committees or call the members to work on specific problems.
  
  
• Sec. 17. Any vacancy among the officers, except for the office of President and President-elect, may be filled by an appointee of the President subject to the majority approval of the Executive Committee.
  

V- FEES

• Sec. 18. The fees for Active and Associate members shall be decided by the Executive Committee and agreed by the General Assembly. Associate members shall pay half the value of the Active members.
  
  
• Sec. 19. The Executive Committee may require special fees with the approval of the General assembly.
  
  
• Sec. 20. Any member neglecting to pay dues or special assessments approved by the Executive Committee, after due notice from the Secretary-Treasurer, may be dropped from membership.
  

VI- PROPERTIES

• Sec. 21. The Society properties will be formed by:
  
  a) annual fees paid by the members.
  b) donations, gifts, grants and legacies.
  c) profits from meetings, publications or courses organized by the Society.
  

VII- ANNUAL ACCOUNTS

• Sec. 22. The annual accounts shall be submitted by the Secretary-Treasurer to Executive Committee and to Active members attending to General Assembly. The annual accounts shall be approved by the General Assembly.
  

VIII- AMENDMENTS TO THE RULES

• Sec. 23. Any member in a letter to the Secretary-Treasurer may require modifications of the rules at least one month before the General Assembly. The rules may be amended by a two-thirds vote of Active members.
  

IX- LATS CONGRESS

• Sec. 24. The LATS Congress will create the necessary conditions to get information, change of ideas and connections between the investigators involved on thyroid research.
  
  
• Sec. 25. The meeting will be realized every two year in a Latin American city, except those years in which the International Thyroid Congress takes place. The Executive Committee may change the year and the city if it is necessary for any reason. The LATS Congress must not be realized simultaneously with other international meeting.
  
  
• Sec. 26. The local organizing committee will be indicated by the LATS Executive Council and should be formed preferentially by LATS members living in the host country.
  
  
• Sec. 27. The LATS Executive Committee will indicate the program organizing committee.
  

X- LATS PRIZE

• Sec. 28. The LATS Prize will be awarded at each LATS Congress to an Active member of the Society who has made outstanding contributions to thyroid research over a considerable period of time.
  
  
• Sec. 29. The Executive Committee will make the award. The Executive Committee can indicate a special board of experts, not necessarily members of LATS, to work as referees. The final decision will be made by the Executive Committee .
  
  
• Sec. 30. Candidates for the Prize may be proposed and seconded by any two Active members of SLAT. The proposal should include the candidate's curriculum vitae (of no more than 10 pages) and a short citation (of no more than 2 pages) indicating the nature of candidate's personal contribution to thyroid research to the Secretary-Treasurer.
  
  
• Sec. 31. The recipient will be asked to deliver a lecture at the LATS Congress.
  
  
• Sec. 32. The LATS Prize - young investigator - will be awarded at each LATS Congress to 2 young members of the Society (less than 40 years old) presenting an accepted paper at the Congress. The categories under which the prize will be given are: (1) clinical and (2) basic research. The young investigators must be the first author and must be present at the Congress.
  
  
• Sec. 33. The work presented must have been made in full in a country of Latin America.
  
  
• Sec. 34. The recipients of the LATS Prize - young investigator - awards will be selected by the Program Organizing Committee or a smaller Awards Committee appointed by the POC, and must only receive this prize once in a life time.
  

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