ATS International Conference 2018: What to Expect

This article is part of Pulmonology Advisor‘s coverage of the American Thoracic Society’s International Conference, taking place in San Diego, California. Our staff will report on medical research related to asthma and other respiratory conditions, conducted by experts in the field. Check back regularly for more news from ATS 2018.

The 2018 American Thoracic Society (ATS) International Conference will take place Friday, May 18, through Wednesday, May 23, in San Diego, California.

Jess Mandel, MD, professor of clinical medicine at the University of California, San Diego, and the ATS International Conference Committee Chair, spoke about what attendees can look forward to at this year’s meeting in a recent podcast. He noted that in addition to the usual programming, the ATS will host a series of keynote lectures covering a range of diverse topics that are of interest to physicians and scientists, even if the topics may not be directly related to their clinical specialty or area of research.

Of the topics to be addressed, Dr Mandel mentioned physician burnout; the use of slow medicine in survivors of complex, intensive care unit illnesses; bacteriophage therapy as a possible method for approaching bacteria-resistant infections; and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s priority for pulmonary and critical care research.

Regarding the current state of pulmonology, Dr Mandel stated it is a very exciting time in the field. In particular, this year ATS is focusing on the role of mitochondrial dysfunction in pulmonary and critical disease. Another exciting area is the interaction between medicine and engineering.

Dr Mandel called out 2 specific sessions: “Bioengineering Approaches Will Revolutionize Respiratory Medicine in the Next 10 Years” and “Nature and Nurture of Tissue Resident Macrophages in Health and Disease.” The first session will cover everything “from nanomedicine to innovative device design to wearable monitors,” and more.

The second session Dr Mandel stated, “will look at how both innate programming and local factors determine the function of cells in different environments,” which “has implications not only on how we think about disease, but also how we study disease.”

There will also be sessions with the editors of the Journal of the American Medical Association and the New England Journal of Medicine to highlight important articles and how they address various changes in the field.

For further recommendations, attendees may find useful the examples of research compiled by the ATS Assembly Program Committees, the bodies that review and select abstracts for the conference:

In Utero Household Air Pollution Exposure Is Associated with Reduced Pulmonary Function in Infants

(To be presented Sunday, May 20, 9:15-11:15 AM)

Improving Physical Activity to Obtain Sustainable Benefits in Extra-Pulmonary Consequences of COPD After Pulmonary Rehabilitation: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

(To be presented Sunday, May 20, 2:15-4:15 PM)

Novel Causative Genes for Heritable Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension

(To be presented Monday, May 21, 9:15-11:15 AM)

Feasibility of Sepsis Phenotyping Using Electronic Health Record Data During Initial Emergency Department Care

(To be presented Tuesday, May 22, 9:15-11:15 AM)

Randomized Phase 3 Trial of Amikacin Liposome Inhalation Suspension (ALIS) for Treatment-Refractory Nontuberculous Mycobacterial (NTM) Lung Disease Caused by Mycobacterium Avium Complex (MAC) in Adult Patients

(To be presented Tuesday, May 22, 2:15-4:15 PM)

Identification of Inflammatory Gene Expression Patterns Associated with Viral Upper Respiratory Tract Infections (URI) that Cause Asthma Exacerbations

(To be presented Wednesday, May 23, 1:30-3:30 PM)

On Tuesday, May 22, the Plenary Session will host a panel discussion entitled, “Providing health care during natural disasters” led by 3 ATS members: Kay Guntupalli, MD, and Naseem Alavian, MD, both from the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, who will discuss their experiences during Hurricane Harvey, and John Balmes, MD, from the University of California, San Francisco, who will share his experience during the recent California wildfires.

Visit Pulmonology Advisor‘s conference section for continuous coverage from ATS 2018

Reference

American Thoracic Society International Conference. https://conference.thoracic.org/about/. Accessed May 10, 2018.