ATS 2015 Speakers Will Engage, Enlighten, and Entertain

Opening Ceremony speaker Aasif Mandvi

Attendees of the ATS 2015 International Conference will find a mixture of history, science, and humor from the speakers at the Opening Ceremony, Amberson Lecture, and President’s Symposium.

Be sure to attend the Opening Ceremony, Saturday, May 16, to hear keynote speaker Aasif Mandvi, actor, writer, producer, comedian, and senior correspondent on “The Daily Show.” With its “fake” news format, “The Daily Show” has a unique brand of advocacy journalism, and Mr. Mandvi has brandished his wit and international perspective to advance the national health care debate in the United States.

In addition to his work on the show, Mr. Mandvi received an OBIE award for his critically acclaimed one-man show “Sakina’s Restaurant.” His film and television credits include “The Mystic Masseur,” “Today’s Special,” “Million Dollar Arm,” “The Dictator,” “Music and Lyrics,” “Spider-Man 2,” “Freedomland,” “The Siege,” “Analyze This,” “The War Within,” “Sex and the City,” “The Sopranos,” “CSI,” “Law and Order,” and the upcoming HBO program, “The Brink,” which he co-produced and wrote.

Augustine Choi, MD

Augustine M.K. Choi, MD, will deliver the Amberson Lecture, “Cytoprotection and Therapeutics in Lung disease: From Gaseous Molecules to Autophagy,” as part of the 2015 Respiratory Health Awards presentation at 4:30 to 6:15 p.m., Sunday, May 17.

Dr. Choi, the Sanford I. Weill Chair of Medicine and the E. Hugh Luckey Distinguished Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, is a physician-scientist with expertise in the pathology and biology of lung disease. His laboratory research has focused on stress response genes and antioxidant enzymes in response to oxidative stress and inflammation in a variety of models of lung disease. Additionally, he focuses on the role of autophagy and inflammasomes in experimental and human acute and chronic lung diseases.

The Amberson Lecture is named in honor of Dr. James Burns Amberson and given by a leader in basic or clinical research or in clinical care.

The ATS 2015 President’s Symposium on Sunday, May 17, from 2:15 to 4:15 p.m., will examine the past and future of cystic fibrosis.

The symposium, “How to Cure a Disease: The Cystic Fibrosis Story,” will feature world-renowned scientists, clinical investigators, and other thought leaders as they review how our understanding of cystic fibrosis lung disease has rapidly advanced, leading to clinical trials with novel agents that are changing the lives of patients. Cystic fibrosis can serve as a roadmap for other respiratory diseases, and this session will show how partnerships between patient organizations, clinicians, scientists, and industry can be transformative.

The speakers and topics are:

Robert J. Beall, PhD, president, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Bethesda, Maryland, “Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Center Network and Patient Registry”
Richard C. Boucher, MD, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, “Defining Cellular Defect in Cystic Fibrosis”
Mitchell Drumm, PhD, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, “Identifying the Genetic Defects in Cystic Fibrosis”
Michael J. Welsh, MD, University of Iowa, Iowa City, “Development of Cystic Fibrosis Animal Models”
Bonnie W. Ramsey, MD, Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center, Seattle, “Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Therapeutic Development Network”
Peter D. Sly, DSc, MBBS, MD, University of Queensland, Herston, Australia, “The Future of Cystic Fibrosis Care”

The ATS 2015 President’s Symposium, “How to Cure a Disease: The Cystic Fibrosis Story” (A92) is supported by an educational grant from Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc.