No wonder the organizers of the American Thoracic Society (ATS) national
meeting asked to include some Pittsburgh clips in the video opening their annual
proceedings this past weekend in Philadelphia: The University of Pittsburgh and UPMC at the other end of the
Commonwealth play an important role in the convention.
Highlights of Pitt and UPMC's participation in the annual meeting include:
Sally Wenzel, M.D., director of the University of Pittsburgh Asthma Institute, will present findings of research that concurrently is
being published and posted on the New England Journal of Medicine website. Dr. Wenzel and
colleagues found that a lab-made molecule was able to stick to certain
inflammatory proteins and reduce acute breathing problems among people with a
type of moderate-to-severe asthma. Dr. Wenzel also has other panels to moderate
and posters highlighted at the meeting.
Student researcher Hilary Strollo, M.S., the
daughter of the University of Pittsburgh’s Patrick Strollo, M.D., of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine (PACCM), and UPMC’s Diane Strollo, M.D., of
Radiology, spoke at a news conference today about COPD research she will present Wednesday
afternoon as part of the ATS meeting’s final day. In a turn-about from her
youth, where her parents dragged her to medical conferences, now her parents
plan to sit in the audience and listen to their daughter lead a seminar about inflammation associated with depression in COPD patients.
In addition to Dr. Wenzel and
Hilary Strollo, among faculty, fellows and students giving presentations are Michelle Manni, Ph.D., and Prabir Ray, Ph.D. Among those leading or facilitating lengthy seminars and discussions
areJessica Bon, M.D.; Hunter Champion,
M.D., Ph.D.; Steven Duncan, M.D.; Carol Feghali-Bostwick, Ph.D.; Dr. Gladwin;
Kathleen Lindell, Ph.D., R.N.; Bryan McVerry, M.D.;Alison Morris, M.D., M.S.; Christopher
O’Donnell, Ph.D.; Joseph Pilewski, M.D.; Mauricio Rojas, M.D.;Frank Sciurba, M.D.; Patrick Strollo, M.D., and Yutong Zhao, M.D.,Ph.D.
Nearly 90 research posters are on display in Philadelphia from
Pitt/UPMC. They includeJoel Weissfeld,
M.D., and Jill Siegfried, Ph.D., in COPD; Maria Crespo, M.D., John
Reilly, Jr., M.D., and more on pulmonary hemodynamics;Thomas Rice,
M.D., and Anne Newman, M.D., MPH, on sleep’s effect on insulin-like growth; Joseph Pilewski, M.D., and Michael Myerburg, M.D., on
epithelial sodium channels; and Steve
Shapiro, M.D., and others on zinc depletion influence on hyperoxic injury.