Keynotes: From Medical Education to Macrophages

Renowned speakers from around the globe will present cutting-edge research on a multitude of topics during ATS 2018.

Darrell G. Kirch, MD

Many of these topics go beyond pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine to also include infectious disease, allergy, and immunology.

The Opening Ceremony on Saturday, May 19, will feature a keynote address from distinguished physician, educator, and medical scientist Darrell G. Kirch, MD. Dr. Kirch is president and CEO of the Association of American Medical Colleges. He speaks and publishes on the need for transformation in the national health care system, and how academic medicine can lead change across medical education, biomedical research, and patient care. Dr. Kirch has a career that spans all aspects of academic medicine and includes leadership positions at two medical schools and academic health systems, as well as the National Institutes of Health.

ATS President Marc Moss, MD, will also speak during the Opening Ceremony and present several respiratory health awards.

Marc Moss, MD

The J. Burns Amberson Lecture on Sunday, May 20, will be presented by Scott T. Weiss, MD, MS. Dr. Weiss is currently the scientific director of Partners HealthCare Personalized Medicine, where he supervises a faculty of six and a staff of more than 100 who are dedicated to translating the results of human genome research into clinical medical practice. He is also a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Scott T. Weiss, MD, MS

The ATS Keynote Series highlights major advances, recent discoveries, significant accomplishments, transformative findings, and important best practices in pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine. These state-of-the-art lectures are presented in two sessions at 8:15 a.m. each morning during the conference.

On Sunday, James P. Kiley, PhD, will present “NHLBI and the Evolution of Pulmonary Research” (K1). He is the director of the Division of Lung Diseases, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health. The second speaker is Victoria Sweet, MD, who will present “Slow Medicine: The Key to Post-ICU Recovery?” (K2). She is an associate clinical professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, and a prize-winning historian, with a PhD in history.

On Monday, Christopher K. Glass, MD, PhD, will present “Nature and Nurture of Tissue Resident Macrophages in Health and Disease” (K3). He is professor of medicine and cellular and molecular medicine at the University of California, San Diego. Tait D. Shanafelt, MD, will present “Reducing Burnout and Promoting Engagement: Individual and Organizational Approaches to Physician Well-Being” (K4). He is director of the Program on Physician Well-being at Mayo Clinic.

On Tuesday, the ATS International Conference will take advantage of its 2018 location and call on some local experts to present on topics that have a San Diego influence. Paul Ponganis, MD, will present “Hypoxemic and Ischemic Protection in Deep-Diving Seals” (K5). He is a researcher at the Center for Marine Biotechnology and Biomedicine.  Three speakers will present the second lecture, “Bacteriophage Therapy for Serious Multidrug-Resistant Bacterial Infections” (K6). They are Robert T. Schooley, MD, professor of medicine in the Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health, at the University of California, San Diego; Steffanie A. Strathdee, PhD, associate dean of Global Health Sciences and Harold Simon Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Diego; and Thomas Patterson, PhD, professor in residence in the Psychiatry Department at the University of California, San Diego.

On Wednesday, Theodore F. Reiss, MD, MBE, will present “On Pharma: The Complexity of Innovation” (K7). He is head of clinical research and development in inflammation and immunology, at Celgene, Inc. Steven Weinberger, MD, will present “The Pulmonologist as Medical Educator: A Personal Perspective” (K8). He is former executive vice president and CEO of the American College of Physicians and on the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine faculty.

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