Welcome to the ATS 2014 International Conference in beautiful San Diego.
Welcome to the American Thoracic Society’s 2014 International Conference. With more than 500 sessions, 800 speakers, and 5,700 original research abstracts and case reports, you have the opportunity to learn about an array of topics in adult and pediatric pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine, and to delve into specific clinical or scientific interests of your choosing. You may also network among thousands of your colleagues from around the world—all in one beautiful city, San Diego.
ATS 2014 is unique in a number of compelling areas. Attendees will see the implementation of the new ATS-wide initiative in achieving health equality in all its manifestations. The new Basic Science Core takes on the theme “Aging and Senescence.” The return of the highly popular adult and pediatric core curriculum sessions will once again help clinicians meet their continuing education and maintenance of certification needs.
Patricia W. Finn
“We ask all presenters and attendees to consider, ‘How can we improve the lives of all our patients—whatever their race, ethnicity, social status, gender—while helping to ensure fairness for everyone?’” says ATS President Patricia W. Finn, MD. “It is a complex and important question to ask, and the result is some outstanding programming that puts health equality front and center.”
ATS 2014 sessions will describe inner-city asthma in minority communities, gender differences and global health disparities, and community and health care associated pneumonia, among other topics. The President’s Symposium, and Women’s and Diversity Forums, which are also covered in today’s Daily Bulletin, will focus on health equality, and the recipients of the new Innovations in Health Equality Awards will be honored. (For more details on these sessions and events, see the Final Program.)
The new Basic Science Core, “Aging and Senescence,” a thematically linked series of symposia and abstract-based sessions, will help scientists learn new approaches to challenging questions and topics, including telomeres and age-related disease. In the U.S. alone, the number of those age 65 and older is expected to double to 88 million by 2050. The need for understanding the effects of aging and senescence could not be greater.
Irina Petrache
“Senescence is incredibly complex, and our understanding of the process continues to evolve as more discoveries are brought to the fore,” says Irina Petrache, MD, chair of the ATS International Conference Committee. “The chairs and presenters in the Basic Science Core will bring a wealth of knowledge and direct experience to ATS 2014, from which all attendees will be able to benefit. The potential for collaboration has never been stronger.”
With an emphasis on efficiently fulfilling the needs of clinicians, the adult and pediatric core curriculum sessions will return this year. Participants who attend the sessions and complete the requirements have the opportunity to earn American Board of Internal Medicine Maintenance of Certification Medical Knowledge Points or American Board of Pediatrics Part 2 Self-Assessment Credits.
The American Thoracic Society is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians. Most of the major symposia, postgraduate courses, workshops, and seminars are eligible for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. The ATS is also partnered with National Jewish Health® to provide Nursing Contact Hours for selected sessions.
The International Conference Committee welcomes you to San Diego! Together we’ll inspire each other—as clinicians, researchers, and patient advocates—to make a difference in pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine worldwide.
TODAY
HEALTH EQUALITY THEMES
Diversity Forum
11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Seaport Ballroom F-G (Second Floor) Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego
This session is supported by an educational grant from Pfizer, Inc.
“Health Inequity in Tobacco Use and Dependence”
2 to 4:30 p.m.
Room 11 A-B (Upper Level) San Diego Convention Center
President’s Symposium
“Launching Today’s Science Towards Tomorrow’s Care: Local and Global Health Equality”
2 to 4:30 p.m.
Room 6 F (Upper Level) San Diego Convention Center
AGING AND SENESCENCE SESSIONS
“Telomeres, Senescence, and Stress: Your Aging Lung Remodeling Specialists”
8:15 to 10:45 a.m.
Room 29 A-D (Upper Level) San Diego Convention Center
“Cellular and Molecular Determinants of the Aging Lung”
2 to 4:30 p.m.
Room 29 A-D (Upper Level) San Diego Convention Center
ADULT AND PEDIATRIC CLINICAL CORE CURRICULA
PCC1: “Aerodigestive and Aspiration Disorders”
6:45 to 7:45 a.m.
Room 6 B (Upper Level) San Diego Convention Center
CC1: Critical Care Clinical Core Curriculum
7 to 8:30 a.m.
Hall H (Ground Level) San Diego Convention Center
This session is supported by educational grants from Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Forest Laboratories, Inc.; and Pfizer, Inc.