Jess Mandel

During ATS 2015, the ATS Community on Facebook will feature the stories of four ATS Facebook Bloggers, who will include Jess Mandel, MD, the 2015-17 chair appointee of the ATS International Conference Committee. Dr. Mandel is associate dean for undergraduate medical education and professor of medicine at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine.

“The international conference is a great opportunity to learn the latest developments in the field, renew old friendships, and start new friendships and collaborations,” Dr. Mandel says.

Lynelle Smith

Joining Dr. Mandel will be three ATS Student Scholars. Lynelle Smith and Mario J. Perez are first-year medical students at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Ms. Smith’s research interests include the use of lipid nanoparticles as method for drug delivery. “I think that ATS will give me a unique opportunity to learn and apply knowledge outside the classroom,” Ms. Smith says.

Mario J. Perez

Mr. Perez, whose research interests include the role of the pulmonary endothelial glycocalyx in sepsis, adds: “Attending ATS as a medical student will give me an in-depth perspective that the classroom cannot provide.”

Lindsey Duca is a doctoral student studying epidemiology at the Colorado School of Public Health and works closely with the COPDGene study in the epidemiology group. “I look forward to ATS because it is a fantastic opportunity to form new collaborations, identify new research opportunities, meet new people in the field, and attend numerous exciting talks that represent the most cutting-edge research,” she says.

Lindsey Duca

Like the ATS Community on Facebook for more news and photos from the conference. Follow the ATS on Twitter, @atscommunity, and include the hashtag #ATS2015 in your posts to join the conversation. Instagram users are encouraged to follow atscommunity. And follow the ATS on LinkedIn.