Dr. Clarkson has been an Active Member of NAMS since 1993. His contributions are numerous, including serving as a member of the Editorial Board for Menopause, as a speaker at numerous Society Annual Meetings, and as a member of many NAMS committees such as the Awards Committee, the Professional Education Committee, the Scientific Program Committee, the Abstract Review Committee, the Research Affairs Committee, and the Trustee Nominating Committee. Dr. Clarkson also provided commentary for the First to Know publication and contributed as a member of the Editorial Boards for several NAMS position statements and for Menopause Practice: A Clinician’s Guide.
Dr. Clarkson has been a recipient of the NAMS Soy Research Award (2001) and the Cardiovascular Research Award (2003). He also presented the first NAMS/Wulf H. Utian Endowed Lecture, Estrogen Effects on Arteries Vary With Stage of Reproductive Life, in 2006. “Tom Clarkson has had one of the most auspicious careers of anyone I have ever met and has made an enormous difference to the world of women’s health. He is one of the key pioneers of true scientific research into menopause and has demonstrated a unique ability to translate basic science research into clinical applications and practice,” said NAMS Founding President and Executive Director, Dr. Wulf Utian.
Dr. Clarkson was elected by the membership to serve two terms on the Board of Trustees (2007-2009 and 2010-2012) and held the office of Secretary. He was instrumental in organizing the first NAMS/Utian Translational Science Symposium on Soy and Soy Isoflavones in 2010 and served as Co-chair.
Dr. Clarkson was the driving force in securing funding from the National Institute on Aging, the Office of Research on Women’s Health, and the National Institutes of Health to support the Pre-Meeting Symposium, Depressive Symptoms and Cognitive Complaints in the Menopausal Transition: Science and Clinical Transition, in 2009.
To recognize his contributions to NAMS, in 2010 the Board of Trustees established the NAMS/Thomas B. Clarkson Outstanding Clinical and Basic Science Research Award fund. “Tom Clarkson has been a wonderful mentor, colleague, and friend for many years. There are countless others from around the globe whom he has educated, taught, and mentored and untold numbers who have read the results of his research and have learned so much from his publications,” said NAMS President-Elect, Dr. Peter Schnatz. “We will always be striving to live up to the standards he set before us.”