Conflict of Interest Policy

Who it covers. Every director, officer, the Medical Director, grant and sponsorship reviewers, and any volunteer who takes part in a funding or program decision.

Disclosed relationships. Our Medical Director, Brittany Henderson, MD, is the founder and owner of Charleston Thyroid Center and MyThyroidDoctor, two clinical practices listed among our partners. She serves the Foundation as an unpaid volunteer. Directors and officers file a written disclosure of their financial and professional interests each year, and update it whenever those interests change.

How we decide. Anyone with a personal or financial interest in a decision says so before the discussion and does not vote on it. Patients the Foundation supports, including through The Butterfly Effect, choose their own clinicians and labs. Charleston Thyroid Center and MyThyroidDoctor may be among the options a sponsored patient chooses, but the Foundation never requires or steers a patient toward them, every sponsored patient receives a list of eligible providers that is not limited to practices connected to the Foundation, and care at a Foundation-connected practice is billed at that practice’s standard rates with no premium. When Foundation funds would go to a practice, company, or product in which a director or officer holds a financial interest for any reason other than a patient’s own choice, the disinterested members of the Board review the arrangement, confirm it serves patients at fair market value, and record the decision in the minutes.

Industry independence. The Foundation does not accept funding from pharmaceutical companies, lobbying groups, or for-profit organizations. Where a director or the Medical Director has a personal paid relationship with a company whose products relate to Foundation content, that relationship is disclosed on the content.

Research and new tests. When the Foundation funds research or test development using data from a partner practice, the data is handled under applicable ethics review and de-identified. Any commercial product that results from Foundation-funded work is governed by a written agreement that protects affordable patient access, and any ownership stake held by a director or officer is disclosed and approved by the disinterested directors before the work begins.

Grants and patient sponsorship. Reviewers recuse themselves from applications involving anyone they know or any institution they are affiliated with. Awards follow published criteria, and every clinical statement we publish cites its sources and grades the strength of the evidence.

Review. The Board reviews this policy annually. Questions about it can be sent to thethyroidfoundation@gmail.com.

Adopted October 2026.