From Dr Charles Sharp
American Thoracic Society International Conference 2016 – San Francisco, USA
I am incredibly grateful to Action for Pulmonary Fibrosis for supporting my attendance at the ATS international conference in San Francisco. Attending a forum such as this is of great value for both clinical and research development at this stage in my career. I was able to meet fellow researchers, discussing studies in similar fields to my own, gaining useful insights into how to progress and develop my own studies. I was also able to gain clinical insights and hear about exciting developments in the field of pulmonary fibrosis and also other interstitial lung diseases (ILDs).
The weather in San Francisco was spectacular throughout my stay, with none of the city’s famous sea fogs. My conference began with a session on interstitial lung diseases other than IPF, with some interesting observational insights into treatment response in a range of auto-immune mediated ILDs. There was some interesting and important work presented in the area of pulmonary rehabilitation for ILD, which overlaps with my own doctoral research. In the afternoon research was presented further examining cohorts of IPF patients treated with nintedanib and pirfenidone, reinforcing their efficacy and tolerability. Some interesting work was also presented suggesting a possible benefit of pirfenidone on both cough and in improving survival from acute worsening of IPF.
My second day at the conference began with a session about communication, with talks about helping patients through decision making processes and risk communication. These were both insightful and useful to clinical practice. I also attended a session exploring respiratory physiology, which highlighted some exciting areas outside ILD, including the developing field of bioelectronics medicines. Interesting work that was also presented in poster sessions included a focus on new approaches to histological diagnosis of ILD by cryobiopsy at bronchoscopy. This appears to be a safe and well tolerated way of avoiding surgical lung biopsy and is likely to significantly expand in the near future. In the afternoon the session I attended focused on the effects on ILD, both overt and covert, on mortality.
On Tuesday, an inspiring keynote speech started the day with a very positive view of the future direction in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. Following this, there was a diverse session from eminent speakers including Prof Athol Wells from London, looking at Sarcoidosis, and area with a great mismatch of clinical activity and research (there is not enough research done given the clinical activity!). I presented my poster over the late morning and lunch-time, prompting some interesting discussions over prediction of outcome and the implications of prognostic knowledge on decisions around treatment. Other research I was able to see included a very valuable poster highlighting the poor quality of online information regarding IPF. This has also recently been published online in the AJRCCM. In the afternoon, research was presented on diagnosis and quality of life in IPF.
The programme on Wednesday was more limited and I took the opportunity to see a little of the city before my flight back to the UK in the afternoon. My time at the conference was extremely useful and will now direct the final stages of my research. I am, once again, grateful for the support which allowed me to attend.