The ATS 2017 International Conference will feature numerous major education presentations, keynote addresses, and postgraduate courses.

The ATS 2017 International Conference features a wealth of sessions to advance your career and, ultimately, improve patient care. Here are important symposia, basic science core sessions, and postgraduate courses that will be presented during the conference.

Major Symposia
“The Cancer Moonshot: ATS = Mission Control for Lung Cancer” (B3) will explore the ATS involvement in the National Cancer Institute Cancer Moonshot, with a focus on lung cancer and thoracic malignancies. Eight speakers will examine important areas of the project, including early detection, determining biomarkers, screening programs, pulmonary module evaluation, and developing an armamentarium of tools. It also will provide an update on the Veterans Affairs Lung Cancer Or Stereotactic Radiotherapy trial. It will be presented the morning of Monday, May 22.

The President’s Symposium, “A Potpourri of Epigenetics and Respiratory Disease,” (B13) on Monday, May 22, will feature five presentations. Topics will include biological aging, air pollution, and the role of epigenetics in COPD, asthma, pulmonary hypertension, and sleep apnea.

Hear about the latest advances in patient monitoring during “The Promise and Reality of Wearable Health Technology,” (A12) on Sunday, May 21. Five presentations will look at the role of wearable and mobile devices in smoking cessation, behavioral change, sleep medicine, monitoring vulnerable populations, the impact of pulmonary rehabilitation, and assessment of activity in COPD patients.

Coordinating technology into existing health systems and practices will be explored in a Monday, May 22, scientific symposium, “The Importance of Technology Implementation in Respiratory Care and Public Health” (B12). Among other topics, five speakers will address practical approaches toward using new technology, organizational inertia on personalized care for lung cancer, technology needed in the care of COPD patients, and gaps in the implementation of health information technology.

Challenges in drug development for patients with cystic fibrosis will be among the topics during “Pulmonary Update from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration” (L4). The session will be presented Sunday, May 21.

A joint session with the American College of Radiology, “State of the Art on Thoracic Imaging and Radiographic Metrics in the Quantification of Lung Disease,” (C92) will be presented Tuesday, May 23. It will feature six speakers looking at advanced imaging modalities for assessing pulmonary nodules, as well as pulmonary parenchymal and vascular disease.

On Sunday, May 21, the International Conference will host two sessions of “Journal of the American Medical Association and the New England Journal of Medicine: Discussion on the Edge.” The morning session (A2) will focus on new pulmonary research; the afternoon (A84) on critical care. Both two-hour sessions will feature the presentation of recently published articles, insights from the journals’ editors, and discussion between attendees and authors.

Basic Science Core
The Basic Science Core is a series of two-hour sessions focusing on lung-environment interaction. One session is presented in the morning and one in the afternoon on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday.

Sunday

• “DOHAD: Developmental Origins of Health and Disease and the Circle of Life for Lung Disease” (A5) will evaluate evidence that a suboptimal environment during fetal and neonatal development leads to the development of chronic diseases.
• “The Exposome Concept: Understanding Impact on Lung Health and Disease” (B85) will explain the concept that environmental exposures throughout life contribute to the development of lung disease.

Monday

• “Smokers With Preserved Spirometry: Early COPD?” (B5) will examine data that could help identify smokers at risk of developing COPD. (B5 is supported by an educational grant from AstraZeneca LP.)
• “Environment and Lung Aging: An Ecological Model” (B85) will look at the effects of biologic, behavioral, and environmental factors on the lungs.

Tuesday

• “Early Life Environmental Programming of Chronic Lung Disease” (C5) will explore evidence that perinatal development may be linked to chronic lung disease in adults.
• “Regulation of the Stress Response in Lung Disease” (C85) will delve into the cellular proteome, which is constantly exposed to a wide variety of stresses.

Postgraduate Courses
Twenty-two postgraduate courses, including hands-on sessions, covering adult and pediatric pulmonary, critical care, and sleep topics will be presented Friday, May 19, and Saturday, May 20.

The courses are for clinicians, research scientists, clinical research coordinators, nurses, respiratory therapists, and other advanced care providers. Depending on the course, these PG courses will present both basics of the discussed process as well as new advances in the field. For these reasons, they are prized by senior as well as early career professionals.

Most of the courses have an international roster of speakers and emphasize new and interactive learning modalities, including case discussions and small-group breakouts.

Postgraduate Course Schedule
8 a.m.-4 p.m., Friday, May 19
PG1A, Critical Care Ultrasound and Echocardiography I (Practical Skills Course); Clinical, Hands-On (This is half of a two-day course, with PG1B; you cannot register for one day without the other.)
PG2, How to Use ’Omics to Study Lung Disease; Research-Basic Science
PG3, Look Before You Leap: Skills for Critical Evaluation of Clinical Research; Research-Clinical
PG4, Interstitial Lung Disease: Current Trends in Diagnosis and Management; Clinical
PG5, A Physiologic Approach to the Treatment of Shock; Clinical
PG6, Lung Innate Immunity: Frontlines of Host Defense; Basic Science
PG7, Pediatric Respiratory Physiology: When It’s Normal and When It’s Not; Pediatric
PG8, Practical Outcome Tools in COPD: From Clinical Care to Clinical Trials; Research-Clinical (PG 8 is supported by an educational grant from AstraZeneca LP.)
PG9, Master Physiology Class: Hemodynamics; Clinical
PG10, Oral Appliance Therapy and Related Topics in Dental Sleep Medicine; Sleep
PG11, Lung Cancer State of the Art: 2017; Clinical

8 a.m.-4 p.m., Saturday, May 20
PG1B, Critical Care Ultrasound and Echocardiography II (Practical Skills Course); Clinical, Hands-On (This is half of a two-day course, with PG1A; you cannot register for one day without the other.)
PG12, Bronch Day: A Comprehensive, Hands-On Guide to Basic Bronchoscopy and EBUS; Clinical, Hands-On Practical Skills Course
PG13, Flow Cytometry in Human and Mouse Lungs: From Experimental Design to Analysis; Research-Basic Science
PG14, Racing to Excellence: The Art and Science of Critical Care Quality Improvement; Research-Clinical
PG15, Advances in The Diagnosis and Management of Sarcoidosis; Clinical-Pediatric (PG15 is supported by an educational grant from Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals, Inc.)
PG16, Cased-Based Review of Thoracic Imaging for the Pulmonologist and Critical Care Physician; Clinical
PG17, Best Practices and Clinical Research Skills Development for Clinical Research Coordinators; Research-Clinical
PG18, Aerodigestive Approach to Complex Chronic Pediatric Diseases; Clinical-Pediatric
PG19, Critical Care of the Patient With Pulmonary Vascular Disease; Clinical
PG20, The Hallmarks of Aging in the Lung; Basic Science
PG21, Pulmonary Function and Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing: Moving From Theory to Clinical Practice; Clinical
PG22, Pulmonary and Critical Care Reviews: Built Around the 2016 ABIM-SEP Modules; Clinical

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