ATS presented its annual Respiratory Health Awards during the opening ceremony on Saturday. George Thurston, MD, received the Public Service Award; Eric D. Bateman, MB, ChB, received the World Lung Health Award; and Yohannes T. Ghebre, PhD, received the Jo Rae Wright Award for Outstanding Science.
Public Service Award
George Thurston, MD
Dr. Thurston’s pioneering research has made substantial contributions to the health effects of particular matter exposure. He was among the first to report the association between PM2.5 exposure and mortality, work that was critical to current PM2.5 exposure standards and classification of PM2.5 as a cause of human lung cancer as it increases the risk of ischemic heart disease, acute cardiac events, asthma, and other respiratory diseases.
Unlike many researchers, Dr. Thurston has worked tirelessly to translate science into effective policy that can improve the health of individuals and populations. He seldom turns down an opportunity to speak to the press about clean air and the importance of air quality standards, even though these efforts consume considerable time and effort without advancing his academic career.
World Lung Health Award
Eric D. Bateman, MB, ChB
Professor Bateman has spent two decades promoting global lung health from within the ATS and representing the organization internationally. He founded the University of Cape Town Lung Institute in 1999. Recognizing that achieving maximum impact in lung disease means integrating lung care and disease prevention into primary health care, the UCT Knowledge Translation Unit has standardized and improved primary care delivery by nurses, physicians, and health workers using a standardized format of algorithms and checklists tailored to local priorities in the care of common infectious and non-communicable chronic conditions.
The resulting Practical Approach to Care Kit has been translated and adapted for use around the world. Professor Bateman has played key roles in GINA, the Global Initiative for Asthma, and has had an active and prolific academic research career with more than 300 peer-reviewed publications.
Outstanding Service
Yohannes T. Ghebre, PhD
Dr. Ghebre emerged from war-torn Eritrea to win a World Bank Scholarship. He earned a BSc from the University of Cape Town, then a PhD in medical microbiology. Moving to Stanford University, he worked on the effects of tobacco smoke on cardiovascular health. He developed a robotic assay to screen more than 130,000 compounds to uncover the handful that regulate nitric oxide synthase (NOS) to develop drug leads for interstitial lung disease. His hits included proton pump inhibitors, which are effective NOS antagonists.
Given the pathobiologic role of the NOS pathway in lung inflammation and fibrosis, Dr. Ghebre pioneered the concept of PPIs as antifibrotic drugs. He has been awarded a number of NHLBI and American Heart Association grants in support of his research.