Registration is open for the ATS 2022 International Conference! Scheduled May 13-18 in San Francisco, the premier respiratory health conference will highlight the latest groundbreaking developments in pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine and, as the Society’s first in-person conference since 2019, it will serve as a reunion for members.

“We’re presenting cutting-edge research,” said ATS President Lynn M. Schnapp, MD, ATSF. “It’s a chance to catch up and see what’s been going on in the pulmonary research community for the past three years and meet the people who are doing the research. It’s also a chance for our trainees to present their work and get feedback from leaders in the field.”

On a personal level, reconnecting with colleagues in the city where she trained to be a pulmonologist is an added bonus for Dr. Schnapp, who is now the George R. and Elaine Love Professor and the chair of the Department of Medicine at the School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

“I am just so looking forward to seeing my friends from around the world. I have missed that so much,” she said. “And then, San Francisco is a great place to be. For me, it’s a homecoming. I did my fellowship training in San Francisco.”

An eagerness to reunite at ATS 2022 is shared by the Society’s membership.

“There is a genuine yearning amongst the community to get back together,” said ATS Chief Executive Officer Karen J. Collishaw, MPP, CAE. “This is a very tight community. They’ve all trained with each other. They’ve all been mentors and mentees to each other. Everybody knows everybody. It’s a big family, and they’ve missed each other.”

Planners are finalizing details for five days of scientific education and networking.

“The most exciting thing is that we will be back face to face,” said International Conference Committee Chair Andrew J. Halayko, PhD, ATSF. “It’s been three years that we have not been able to do that.”

The COVID-19 pandemic forced ATS to move the International Conference to a virtual platform in 2020 and 2021. COVID-19 health and safety measures have been included in conference planning this year, alongside the high-quality programming for which the International Conference is known.

“We have maintained the integrity of what people have come to know and love about this conference,” said Dr. Halayko, professor and Canada Research Chair in Lung Pathobiology and Treatment Physiology and Pathophysiology, University of Manitoba, and Biology of Breathing Group, Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba. “What they’ll see will be very much what they are familiar with for the conference.”

The Program at a Glance offers a preliminary schedule of educational opportunities and other activities, including the Keynote Series, Meet the Experts Seminars, Poster Sessions, Core Curriculum, the Exhibit Hall, Postgraduate Courses, and more.

The Clinical Trials Symposium will highlight cutting-edge advancements in the treatment and management of pulmonary, critical care, and sleep disorders in adults and children. The session, showcasing phase 2 and phase 3 clinical trials, was first featured in the International Conference program in 2020 and has proved to be a popular addition, Dr. Halayko said.

Other high-interest programming returning to ATS 2022 includes Year in Review sessions that provide an overview of significant developments from the past year in select areas. Clinical, pediatric, and nursing sessions are scheduled.

“The Clinical Year in Review sessions are always a great way to catch up on everything that’s been going on in the past year — what’s new, what’s hot,” Dr. Schnapp said.

Several opportunities tailored to emerging professionals are included in the ATS 2022 program, such as mini-symposia highlighting case reports from fellows and new faculty members.

“One of the hits that’s happened during the pandemic is that our young members have lost essential platforms for networking and for featuring themselves as speakers and their own work in interactive sessions — symposia and poster discussions, as examples,” Dr. Halayko said. “I’m really excited for them and, as an attendee, to see all of those sessions back.”

A grand prize of $10,000 also will be on the line again for young professionals in the ATS Drug Device Discovery and Development Committee’s eighth annual BEAR Cage (Building Education to Advance Research) competition, which invites three contestants to present innovative research proposals to a panel of translational science experts in front of a live audience. The application deadline is Feb. 28.

ATS 2022 also features the return of the Respiratory Innovation Summit, for which participants need to pre-register. The Summit unites innovators, investors, clinicians, and advocacy groups with a focus on fibrosis, inflammation, and COVID-19, and provides opportunity to lead development of new treatments for deadly and crippling diseases of the lungs and airways.

Outside of the educational program, ATS 2022 will include a variety of activities where attendees can engage with one another, support up-and-coming respiratory health professionals, and recognize the outstanding contributions to medicine made by their peers. Saturday, May 14, will feature the Opening Ceremony and the ATS Research Program Benefit.

The latter is an entertaining way to kick off the conference, network with colleagues old and new, and provide crucial support for the next generation of researchers. This year’s theme is, “Welcome Back.”

“It’s a nice synergy between a great opportunity to meet people and network and to catch up with old friends at the same time you’re supporting research,” Ms. Collishaw said. All proceeds from the benefit support the research program.

Award presentations and Assembly Membership Meetings will take place Sunday, May 15, and Monday, May 16.

ATS 2022 registration is available online. Discounted fees are in effect for those who register early. The cost of registration increases March 11 and again May 13. A full list of registration fees is available on the conference website.

For up-to-date conference details, visit the ATS 2022 website, read ATS Conference News, and search for #ATS2022 on social media.