Raed A. Dweik, MD, MBA, ATSF, attended his first ATS International Conference as a fellow in Boston in 1994 and hasn’t missed one since.

“The ATS is my professional home as a society,” Dr. Dweik said. “It’s where I’ve presented all my research, networked with like-minded colleagues, developed relationships with mentors, and eventually began providing mentorship myself.”

Irina Petrache, MD, ATSF, will formally pass the presidential gavel to Dr. Dweik at the ATS 2025 International Conference during the Plenary Session, which begins at 11:45 a.m. PT on Tuesday, May 20, in the Moscone Center, Esplanade Ballroom. Dr. Dweik is the chief of the Integrated Hospital Care Institute (IHI) at the Cleveland Clinic. In this role, he sets the Institute’s strategic direction in all areas of clinical care, research, and education, and oversees day-to-day operations.

Cleveland Clinic’s IHI is a unique model that unites five departments, 12 divisions, and two distinct care centers to organize clinical, academic, and research initiatives across the entire Cleveland Clinic Health System. The IHI team collaborates with hospitals across the country to innovate and optimize the patient journey to provide seamless, high-quality care. Dr. Dweik explained that this unified model helps close gaps between departments and improves patients’ transitions of care because everyone is working on the same team.

Dr. Dweik shared that he wants to maintain a similarly united organization during his term as ATS president.

“The ATS is the premier respiratory society in the world, and that doesn’t happen by accident. It’s a status we need to continue to maintain and enhance,” he said. “Whether you are a clinician, a researcher, or an educator; whether you are a trainee, junior faculty, or a seasoned professional; whether you are a U.S. or international member; I want you to feel that ATS is a society where you belong.”

In addition to his 32 years and numerous roles as a physician at the Cleveland Clinic, Dr. Dweik is the E. Tom and Erica Meyer Endowed Professor of Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, with a joint appointment in the Lerner Research Institute where he established a Research Center of Excellence in Pulmonary Vascular Disease and maintains a research laboratory funded by the National Institutes of Health.

“I started on the clinical side as a physician, then became a physician-scientist because the question, ‘How can we make patients better?’ was always nagging at me,” Dr. Dweik explained. “Our team made many discoveries in nitric oxide that, through our work and the work of others, led to many effective treatments for pulmonary hypertension, which is rewarding for the physician-scientist to see that the work we’ve done can lead to better treatments and improvements in patients’ lives.”

Dr. Dweik is a leader who believes in the power of once-segmented groups coming together to advance a cohesive mission for the betterment of others, a philosophy he intends to extend to his presidency with the ATS.

“We all come to the ATS with our own needs, interests, and goals, but I want us all to also think of how we can support the ATS as an organization so that it continues to be a professional home that we can all thrive in,” he said.

Dr. Dweik has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Cleveland Clinic Outstanding Innovation in Translational Medicine Award, and has received the Distinguished Teacher Award from the Cleveland Clinic’s Internal Medicine Residency Program multiple times. He has also published more than 300 manuscripts and book chapters, and serves on several journal editorial boards.

“Some of my other invaluable leadership experiences include serving on the Board of Governors, Board of Trustees, and Board of Directors of the Cleveland Clinic, a $15 billion organization,” he stated. “The lessons I learned are numerous, but one that stands out came from meeting and actively listening to thousands of faculty members: it is the indispensable role of leadership. The only thing that is more devastating to a team or organization than a lack of leadership is bad leadership.”

Dr. Dweik graduated from the University of Jordan School of Medicine in Amman, Jordan. He completed his internal medicine residency at Ohio’s Wright State University and completed a fellowship in pulmonary and critical care medicine at the Cleveland Clinic. He also earned an MBA from Case Western Reserve University.

Outside of work, Dr. Dweik is an avid traveler, having visited more than 60 countries, often with his wife. When traveling, the couple tries to avoid visiting the same place twice.

“I like to explore new cultures, new worlds, and meet new people as I travel,” he said.

Dr. Dweik and his wife also enjoy visiting and spending time with their adult children and hiking in the Cleveland Metroparks (known as the Emerald Necklace).