American Thoracic Society

Announcing the American Lung Association/ATS/American College of Chest Physicians Respiratory Health Equity Research Award - one grant available, $100,000 per year for two years. This grant will provide support for early-stage investigators to improve clinical outcomes in preventing and/or treating lung disease in underrepresented minority patients. Learn more about this grant and review eligibility criteria: https://lnkd.in/gH8fdnHe.

Do you or someone you know have lung disease? People with lung disease are more likely to get seriously ill from respiratory infections, so it is especially important that everyone with a chronic lung disease, such as asthma or COPD, protect their lung health. Here are four ways to protect lung health during respiratory virus season: 1. Make sure to receive the vaccines recommended by your health care provider to protect against illness such as COVID-19, influenza, pneumococcal pneumonia, RSV or other illnesses. 2. Follow your treatment plan. 3. Take measures to avoid getting sick. 4. Call your health care provider if you have any concerning symptoms that are out of the ordinary. More ways to protect lung health during respiratory virus season: https://lnkd.in/gbRxnTkp.

Happy Labor Day! Our offices are closed today. We hope you enjoy a happy and healthy holiday!

Congratulations to Margareth Dalcolmo, MD, president of the Brazilian Thoracic Society, on receiving the highest decoration of the French government, the "Legion d'Honneur." This prestigious honor, created by Napoleon Bonaparte, recognizes individuals who have made exceptional contributions to their field. We're incredibly proud of her achievements!

Does your child have asthma? There is typically an uptick in asthma-related flare-ups and emergency department visits early in the school year, much of which is preventable. Four tips for returning to school: 1. If you and your child have drifted away from the regular asthma medication routine (which can happen during the summer), this is a great time to restart daily preventive medication. 2. Make sure you have both daily (controller) medication and rescue medications at home. 3. Make sure you have an extra rescue inhaler, a spacer, and paperwork to send to school. 4. If you have had any difficulties obtaining asthma medication for your child – or you need asthma medication and/or asthma school forms – please reach out to their asthma care provider. Thank you to our two expert members who shared these tips for returning to school. Robyn Cohen, MD, MPH, is a pediatric pulmonologist and the director of the Pediatric Asthma Program at Boston Medical Center. Christy Sadreameli, MD, MHS, is a pediatric pulmonologist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. For more on asthma care, our exercise-induced asthma video has more tips: https://lnkd.in/eBM9CUd4.

Are you conducting research in obstructive lung disease? Announcing the ATS/Chiesi USA, Inc. Research Grant in Obstructive Lung Disease - one grant available, $50,000 for one year. This grant will support research that has a high likelihood of advancing the understanding of obstructive lung disease through basic, translational, or clinical research. Learn more about this grant and review eligibility criteria: https://lnkd.in/g-qcXhd9.

It’s ATS #MembershipMonday! To help the world breathe, the ATS encourages respiratory innovation and medical education, so we provide our members with complimentary access to Springer e-books and discounted print books on respiratory medicine. Springer offers a collection of over 300,000 books to advance your medical knowledge! Get the latest on respiratory medicine – join us: https://lnkd.in/eawQFWY8.

Advocacy Alert: Thank you to Laura Myers, MD, MPH, Kaiser Permanente, research scientist I, Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente, and pulmonary intensivist, Diablo Service Area, and our ATS Environmental Health Policy Committee members who spoke last week during a virtual public hearing urging the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to approve the California Advanced Clean Fleet waiver. The Advanced Clean Fleet waiver would shift more new vehicles in truck fleets to zero-emission technologies and significantly cut diesel exhaust and associated health harms by ensuring a long-term transition to zero-emission truck sales. If approved, what are the health benefits? → An estimated $26.5 billion in health benefits would be provided between 2024 to 2050, more than 2,500 lives would be saved, over 870 hospitalizations for cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses and over 1,100 emergency room visits would be avoided. How does the waiver address the roots of climate change? → By reducing GHG emissions from fleet vehicle trucks. How does it support environmental justice? → Help patients by reducing overall air pollution and reducing future emissions of GHGs. → Helps communities that face greater exposures to diesel exhaust, which are often people with lower incomes and people of color.

Wildfires threaten the health of everyone, especially individuals with lung disease! In November 2023, the ATS and the NYU Marron Institute of Urban Management published the Health of the Air Report, which provided the first-ever local and national estimates of the health impacts specifically attributable to air pollution from wildland fires. Funding from NASA, through the Health and Air Quality Applied Science Team (HAQAST), allowed for the inclusion of this critical source of pollution in the health analysis. “...In the western US, in the Midwest and the Southeast US, there are a large number of unmonitored counties that have important health relevant concentrations of pollution from wildland fires,” says Kevin Cromar, PhD, NYU Marron Institute program director and lead author of The Health of the Air Report. You can read the report here: https://lnkd.in/eTcyHHY5.

Happening Now: The ATS MECOR Latin America course is this week in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, with 64 students participating and 19 faculty members! MECOR = American Thoracic Society Methods in Epidemiologic, Clinical, and Operations Research (MECOR) Program!