An interview with ATS President Thomas Ferkol, MD.

Air pollution inflicts a huge burden of illness—from respiratory problems caused by asthma, COPD, and lung cancer to non-respiratory issues brought on by coronary artery disease, hypertension, and cancer.

In February, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued its final coverage policy for CT lung cancer screening under Medicare, allowing coverage of annual low-dose CT lung cancer scans for beneficiaries who meet specific criteria.

ATS 2015 attendees gathered for a special evening reception Saturday when the ATS Foundation kicked off its Seventh Annual ATS Foundation Research Program Benefit.

Saturday’s ATS Public Advisory Roundtable (ATS PAR) gave patients and family members the opportunity to spend a half-day meeting with experts in pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine, and the popularity of the forum is catching on. Attendance increased to 248 this year from 190 at ATS 2014.

Presenters of a Monday afternoon scientific symposium will discuss the state of the art of personalized medicine for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).

The ATS Fellows Track Symposium, Resident Boot Camp, and Student Scholars Program have become a huge draw for early career professionals, with this year’s attendance at 405, representing a 61 percent increase from last year.

The National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) demonstrated a 20 percent relative reduction in lung cancer specific mortality with the use of annual low-dose CT scans. Current guidelines from the ATS and other organizations recommend that screening should be offered to those at high risk of developing lung cancer.