UPMC at the American Thoracic Society (ATS) 2026 International Conference

In May, members of the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, the Division of Pediatric Pulmonary Medicine at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, and the Department of Critical Care Medicine will represent UPMC at the American Thoracic Society (ATS) 2026 International Conference.

Each year, the ATS International Conference brings together nearly 14,000 pulmonary, critical care, and sleep professionals from all over the world to share insights, meet with colleagues, and cultivate collaborations. Attendees of this conference are presented with the latest advancements in these diseases and illnesses, as well as new perspectives on improving patient care.

We are proud to be represented by our team of experts across the UPMC footprint at this year’s conference in Orlando, Fl.

Attendees will hear from our experts on a variety of topics including:

Georgios Kitsios, MD
“Staph Is Not Shy”: Microbiota Profiles Identify a High-risk, Dominant Phenotype in S. Aureus Pneumonia

Melanie Koenigshoff, MD
Extracellular Vesicles Driving Epithelial-Fibroblast Crosstalk in the Injured Lung

Amanda Moale, MD
Rethinking the Use of “Need”

Qianjiang Hu
Loss of TFAM Drives Impaired Epithelial Mesenchymal Crosstalk in Pulmonary Fibrosis

Marc Gauthier, MD
Clinical Year in Review: Asthma

Chadi Hage, MD
Contemporary Questions in Pulmonary Infections in the Immunocompromised Host

Qingqing Meng, MD
Fat Deposition Patterns and Inflammatory Dysregulation in Pulmonary Hypertension: A UK Biobank Study

Corrine Kliment, MD
Mitochondria-Derived Microprotein Shmoose is Reduced in COPD and Contributes to Dysfunctional Lung Repair

Belinda Rivera-Lebron, MD
Diagnosis and Treatment of Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension (CTEPH)
Buenos Dias ATS Talk: Hot Topics in Pulmonary Vascular Disease: From Acute PE to Chronic Pulmonary Hypertension

Kambez Benam, Phd
Microphysiological Systems and Bioinspired Robotics for Modeling Human Lung Pathobiology and Mechanics

Alicia Rizzo, MD
Glycocalyx Sheddases Are Unregulated in Macrophages in Chronic Lung Allograft Dysfunction

Faraaz Ali Shah, MD
Still in Flux: Immunomodulatory Therapies and Sepsis - A Case Yet to Be Closed

Michael Risbano, MD
Exercise and the Heart: invasive CPET

Tony Macedonia, MD
Earth, Wind, and Fire: Translational Lessons from a Changing Pulmonary (Micro)Environment

Sudipta Das, PhD
Training of Neutrophils to Protect From Lethal Infection by Pseudomonas Aeruginosa

Jooseob Lee, MD
Treatment-informed Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (tSOFA): A Pragmatic Alternative Based on Treatment Intensity With Preserved Prognostic Performance in Two Large Intensive Care Unit (ICU) Cohorts

Divay Chandra, MD
Lithium Induced Lung Repair as Precision Therapy for Emphysema

Anne Yang, MD
A Proteomics-based Accelerated Aging Endotype Associates With Multiorgan Dysfunction and Mortality in COPD

Frank Sciurba, MD
Update on Bronchoscopic Interventions
Insights from COPD Clinical Trials

James Verdone, MD
Proteasome Dysfunction Modulates Host Response to Influenza Infection