David Schwartz, M.D., described breakthroughs in understanding the relationships that exist among lung diseases, genetics and the environment during the ATS PAR forum Saturday.

As part of its 2010 symposium, the ATS Public Advisory Roundtable (ATS PAR) will focus on lung biology to demonstrate the importance of translational research in improving the diagnosis and treatment of respiratory diseases, critical illnesses and sleep disorders.

Co-chaired by ATS Immediate-Past President Jo Rae Wright, Ph.D., ATS PAR chair Teresa Barnes and Michael A. Matthay, M.D., this year’s program continues the group’s efforts to bring together clinicians, researchers and patients to expand and increase the level of care provided by physicians and other allied healthcare professionals.

“I hope that attendees will be able to grasp the importance of lung cell biology translational research with regard to the understanding of the functions of normal lung cells and the problems that can arise when the function becomes abnormal, ,” said Dr. Wright, who also serves as the vice provost and dean of Duke University’s Graduate School. “I also hope that the discussion on ethical issues will help inform researchers, clinicians, and patients and their families about important topics for consideration in developing therapies based on such research. The patient perspective will help all attendees learn how patients experiences their.”

Ms. Barnes, who also serves as vice president of patient outreach and advocacy at the Coalition for Pulmonary Fibrosis, said the symposium will highlight recent advances in understanding the role of lung cells in maintaining normal homeostasis and the potential for therapy involving cells, with the patient perspective serving as an important component of the program.

“Leading experts will highlight recent advances in our understanding of the role of lung cells in maintaining normal homeostasis and the potential for therapy involving cells,” she said. ” “We are hoping to attract researchers who have no access to patients or are too busy in their day-to-day routines to spend a good amount of time with patients,” she continued. “Sometimes it is difficult to get a good patient perspective in those scenarios, and I would imagine that a lot of physicians don’t get the full picture, which could hinder the science.”

Among the recent breakthroughs to be discussed is the discovery that adult human mesenchymal stem cells can actually reverse the effects of injury in a novel human lung preparation in the lab. Scientists believe that this finding could lead to the development of stem cell therapies for patients with acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome, which currently have high rates of mortality and no pharmacologic treatments.

“In a clinical sense, the stem cells reversed what we often see as complications of severe pneumonia—edema, inflammation and injury,” said Dr. Matthay, professor of medicine and anesthesia at University of California, San Francisco, and senior associate in the UCSF Cardiovascular Research Institute.

In addition to Dr. Matthay’s presentation on cell-based therapy for lung injury, the symposium’s program will also include:

• Bernard Lo, M.D., professor and director of the Program in Medical Ethics at the University of California, San Francisco, who will talk about “Ethical and Policy Issues Regarding Cell-Based Therapies: Anticipating And Addressing Potential Obstacles To Scientific And Clinical Innovation;”
• Jahar Bhattacharya, M.D., Ph.D., professor of physiology and cellular biophysics, and clinical and physiological medicine at Columbia University Medical Center, who will focus on “Reversal of Lung Inflammation by Mesenchymal Stem Cells;”
• Landon S. King, M.D., associate professor of medicine at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the director of pulmonary and critical care medicine at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, who will discuss the “Role of Lymphocytes in Mediating Recovery from Acute Lung Injury;”
• Mark R. Looney, M.D., assistant professor in residence at the University of California, San Francisco, who will talk about the “Role Of Neutrophils and Platelets in Mediating Acute Lung Injury;”
• Danielle L. Benich of Crown Point, Indiana, who will talk about ALI from the patient perspective; and
• Duncan J. Stewart, M.D., CEO and scientific director and senior scientist in the regenerative medicine program at Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Canada, who will address future cell-based therapies.