Young Professionals Take Innovative Ideas to the BEAR Cage Monday at ATS 2022


Don’t miss this year’s Building Education to Advance Research (BEAR) Cage competition, back for its eighth year, live and in-person at the ATS 2022 International Conference in San Francisco.

The “Shark Tank”-style live pitch session gives early career professionals an opportunity to share their research and innovative ideas with veterans of translational science in the areas of academia, industry, and government. It will take place on Monday, May 16, 12-2 p.m. PT, in the Science & Innovation Center, Room 155 (South Building, Upper Mezzanine), Moscone Center.

The ATS Drug Device Discovery and Development Committee reviews all BEAR Cage submissions, chooses three finalists, and invites them to present and pitch their ideas at the annual conference. Each finalist will have 10 minutes to present their findings, then the panel of judges will have 10 minutes to query the finalist on their research. Finally, the audience will have 10 minutes to ask the presenter any questions about their project.

Once all finalists have presented, the panel will award one grand prize winner $10,000 and the two runner-up proposals $2,500 each.

“The BEAR Cage Award has helped my research and career goals progress immensely through funding, direct mentorship, and networking with other scientists, physicians, and industry experts,” said the 2021 winner, Daphne Moutsoglou, MD, PhD.

This year’s BEAR Cage finalists and the research they will present include:

  • John Huston, MD, pulmonary and critical care fellow, Yale University — PREDICT – Passive Respiratory Exposure Detection: Investigating COPD Triggers
  • Miho Jeong, PharmD, PhD, postdoctoral fellow, Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital — Molecular Diagnostics of Pulmonary Fibrosis Using Cell-Specific Extracellular Vesicle
  • Maged Hassan Fayed, PhD, lecturer, Alexandria University Faculty of Medicine, Egypt — Antiseptic Irrigation for Pleural Infection to Reduce Infection Burden and Enhance Drainage
John Huston, MD
John Huston, MD
Miho Jeong, PharmD, PhD
Miho Jeong, PharmD, PhD
Maged Hassan Fayed, PhD
Maged Hassan Fayed, PhD

The 2016 winner, Jake Brenner, MD, PhD, credits the BEAR Cage as the single most important competition in propelling his career.

Sanghyuk Shin, PhD, 2017 winner, said, “The BEAR Cage Award helped me to become a nationally recognized expert in the area of genomic epidemiology and diagnosis of tuberculosis. I am extremely grateful for the doors that opened up for me to advance my career after receiving the award.”

Don’t Miss ATS 2024 Highlights: On Demand

Don’t forget that ATS 2024 Highlights: On Demand are available to all conference registrants! On Demand will give you access to the Opening Ceremony, Plenary Session, Keynote Series, Clinical Year in Review, Adult Clinical Core Curriculum, and so much more. The topics will cover ILD, asthma, health equity, and CF, to name just a few. On Demand content will be accessible to all ATS 2024 full conference and On Demand registrants until March 2025.