The ATS 2022 International Participants Center features programming designed to illuminate common disease themes from different regional perspectives around the world. In contrast to scientific symposia, IPC programs will focus more on the social and cultural challenges, and local solutions, related to each topic. International researchers and clinicians, as well as domestic researchers and clinicians with an interest in global health, are invited to attend these sessions.

The IPC will be located in Room 154 (Upper Mezzanine, South Building) of the Moscone Center and will be open 7 a.m.-5 p.m. PT on Sunday through Tuesday, May 15-17. Check the ATS 2022 online itinerary planner for the most up-to-date session times and locations.

International Scholars Poster Colloquium

8 a.m.- 12:30 p.m. PT | Saturday, May 14
The ATS International Scholars Poster Colloquium features the work of those selected for an International Trainee Scholarship. This prestigious award is given to the best and most deserving abstracts submitted by trainees from around the globe. The 2022 Colloquium brings together early-career researchers from 15 countries and 12 assemblies for an interactive session with the world’s most promising investigators in respiratory health. The following are the 2022 International Trainee Scholarship awardees:

• Mahmoud Abdel-Aziz, Netherlands
• Babatunde Awokola, Gambia
• Louis Bouchant, France
• Athénaïs Boucly, France
• Thomas Conlon, Germany
• Justin De Brabander, Netherlands
• Ogochukwu Ekete, Nigeria
• Ariel Finkielsztein, United Kingdom
• Ellen Gorman, United Kingdom
• Pierre Gourdan, France
• Kjell Håkansson, Denmark
• Luciana Heil, Brazil
• Jacqueline Kagima, Kenya
• Vivienne Kahlmann, Netherlands
• Lucia Pinilla Latorre, Spain
• Naiara Leonardi, Brazil
• Hamish McAuley, United Kingdom
• Hannah Mitchell, United Kingdom
• Sheng-Wei Pan, Taiwan
• Sibomana Jean Pierre, Rwanda
• Job Schippers, Netherlands
• Raewyn Scott, New Zealand
• Siti Widjanantie, Indonesia
• Karin Wildi, Australia

Buenos Días ATS

12:30-4:30 p.m. PT | Saturday, May 14
This session is organized in partnership with the Asociación Latinoamericana de Tórax and Sociedad Española de Neumología y Cirugía Torácica to highlight the best abstracts received in Spanish.

Symposium: Unidades de Cuidados Respiratorios Intermedios

• Investigación y gestión en las UCRIs, Manuel Baz (ALAT)
• Covid19: Punto de inflexión para las UCRIs y la neumonía, Rosario Menéndez (SEPAR)  
• El futuro de las UCRIs, Marcos I. Restrepo (ATS)

Poster Presentations

• Baseline Stiffness Modulates the Non-linear Response to Stretch of the Extracellular Matrix in Pulmonary Fibrosis, Isaac Almendros, SEPAR, Spain
• Immunopathological Mechanisms of Bird Related Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis in an Acute and Chronic Murine Model, Silvia Sánchez Diez, SEPAR, Spain
• Nasal Polyps Are a Predictor of Complete Response in Patients with Severe Asthma and Treatment with Benralizumab, Alicia Padilla-Galo, SEPAR, Spain
• Physiologic Effects of High Flow Nasal Cannula Compared to Conventional Oxygen Therapy Postextubation: A Randomized Crossover Study, Roque Basoalto, ALAT, Chile
• Small-molecule Mediated Chemical Knockdown of Muscle RING-finger Protein 1 (MuRF1) Prevents Diaphragm Dysfunction Induced by Mechanical Unloading Driven by Unilateral Denervation, Fernando Ribeiro, ALAT, Brazil
• Effects of Home-based Respiratory Physiotherapy and Telephone-based Psychological Support on Pulmonary and Mental Health Outcomes in Peru: A Feasibility Randomized Controlled Trial, Anderson Soriano, ALAT, Peru

Featured Sessions

What is the best way to measure personal exposures in air pollution studies?
11:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m. PT | Sunday, May 15
In this session, speakers will provide an introduction to in silico and in vitro methods for lung-deposited dose estimation, examples of practical applications, and discussion of future research directions.
Speakers: Kalpana Balakrishnan, PhD; Laura Nicolaou, PhD; Kirsten Koehler, PhD; William Checkley, MD, PhD

Peer Society Publication Highlights
1-2 p.m. PT | Sunday, May 15
This session will highlight the best published work from researchers in Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America, and will be an excellent opportunity to reconnect with international collaborators and build new relationships.
Speakers: Enrico Lombardi, MD; Francisco Arancibia, MD; Obianuju Ozoh, MBBS, MWACP; Satoshi Konno, MD, PhD

Setbacks and Silver Linings: COVID-19 impact on TB
11:15 a.m.- 12:15 p.m. PT | Monday, May 16
This session will first present negative impacts of COVID-19 on tuberculosis prevention, diagnosis, and care both from a global and domestic perspective. The second set of speakers will focus on the potential of new TB vaccines and care management strategies for TB.
Speakers: Sundari Mase, MD, MPH; Scott Nabity, MD, MPH; David Lewinsohn, MD, PhD

MECOR – Program Overview and How to Get Involved
1-2 p.m. PT | Monday, May 16
The ATS Methods in Epidemiologic, Clinical, and Operations Research program is a research capacity-building program that has trained clinician scientists in low- and middle-income countries for over 25 years. This session will provide an overview of the program’s progress to date, as well as how to get involved — either as a student or faculty member.
Speaker: Shannon Carson, MD

The Growing Burden of Non-Communicable Lung Disease in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
1-2 p.m. PT | Tuesday, May 17
This session will review the burden of childhood asthma, the emerging problem of lung cancer, and the environmental exposures that drive many of these illnesses in LMICs.
Speakers: Amsalu Binegdie, MD; Tewodros Gebremariam, MD; Refiloe Masekela, MD, PhD; Alison Lee, MD, MS

Grant Writing and Publishing at ATS
2-3 p.m. PT | Tuesday, May 17
Featuring speakers from ATS Journals and the International Grants Working Group, attendees will learn what should be included in a grant and a paper, and what a reviewer would be looking for in a good grant and publishable paper.
Speakers: Juliana Ferreira, MD, PhD; Nitin Seam, MD; John Balmes, MD; Richard van Zyl-Smit, MBChB, PhD