Every year at the International Conference, the ATS recognizes individuals whose contributions have helped to improve health worldwide by advancing research, clinical care, and public health in respiratory disease, critical illness, and sleep disorders. This year, the Awards Committee has selected a diverse group of outstanding researchers and clinicians to receive 2015 Respiratory Health Awards. The following will be honored at an awards ceremony from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. today in Bellco Theatre Section 2 (Street Level) of the Colorado Convention Center.
Dirkje S. Postma
Edward Livingston Trudeau Medal
Dirkje S. Postma, MD, professor of pulmonary medicine at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands, will be awarded the Trudeau Medal, one of the Society’s highest recognitions. Dr. Postma studies the pathophysiology of asthma and COPD, which includes the broad spectrum of genetics of asthma and COPD, basic science in cell activation pathways, and improvement of clinical management in association with investigations of the pathophysiology.
Augustine M.K. Choi
Amberson Lecturer
Augustine M.K. Choi, MD, Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University, will deliver the Amberson Lecture, named in honor of Dr. James Burns Amberson and given by a leader in basic or clinical research or in clinical care. Dr. Choi is a physician-scientist with expertise in the pathology and biology of lung disease. His laboratory research has focused on stress response genes in response to oxidative stress and on the role of autophagy and inflammasomes in experimental and human acute and chronic lung diseases.
Paul Quinton
Distinguished Achievement Awards
Paul Quinton, PhD, of the University of California San Diego, and Steven H. Abman, MD, of the University of Colorado, Denver School of Medicine, will receive Distinguished Achievement Awards, which recognize individuals who have made outstanding contributions to fighting respiratory disease through research, education, patient care, or advocacy.
Steven H. Abman
Dr. Quinton’s lab focuses on the basic defects and malfunctions associated with cystic fibrosis, and he was responsible for recognizing the role of abnormal chloride permeability. Dr. Abman is the director of the Pediatric Heart Lung Center at Children’s Hospital Colorado, where he established the clinical Pulmonary Hypertension Program and Ventilator Care Program.
John W. Kreit
Outstanding Educator Award
John W. Kreit, MD, of the University of Pittsburgh, UPMC, Montefiore, will receive the Outstanding Educator Award. Since 2001, Dr. Kreit has been the director of fellowship training in pulmonary and critical care medicine and director of the pulmonary physiology and pathophysiology course in the University of Pittsburgh Medical School. Dr. Kreit also plays a major role in resident education as chairman of the subspecialty education committee in the department of medicine.
Stephen B. Gordon
World Lung Health Award
Stephen B. Gordon, MD, of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, will receive the World Lung Health Award, which is given to an individual with recognized contributions to world lung health. Dr. Gordon, whose research interests include pulmonary factors contributing to susceptibility to infection, the pathogenesis of pneumococcal infection, and inhaled vaccines against pneumonia, completed Wellcome Trust Research Fellowships in Blantyre, Malawi, and is the course director of the ATS’s Pan African Thoracic Society MECOR Program.
Floyd Malveaux
Public Service Award
Floyd Malveaux, MD, PhD, executive director of the Merck Childhood Asthma Network, will receive the Public Service Award, which is given for contributions in respiratory public health. Dr. Malveaux, an expert on asthma and allergic diseases, is emeritus dean of the College of Medicine at Howard University, where he led the University’s participation in several multi-million dollar initiatives to identify and address risk factors that contribute to increased asthma morbidity among inner-city children and to develop effective, community-based interventions to reduce and prevent asthma among at-risk populations.
Erica L. Herzog
Jo Rae Wright Award for Outstanding Science
Erica L. Herzog, MD, PhD, of the Yale University School of Medicine, will receive the Jo Rae Wright Award for Outstanding Science. The late Dr. Wright was the first PhD scientist to head the ATS. Dr. Herzog’s laboratory focuses on the relationship between chronic inflammation, neuronal guidance proteins, and lung fibrosis in a variety of fibrosing lung diseases, including IPF, scleroderma, and sarcoidosis. Her unique translational approach to these diseases combines transgenic murine modeling and bioengineering with studies of primary human cells.