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Q: As ECM Representative of Assembly 5, what are you most looking forward to about this year’s ERS Congress?
It is my final year of my mandate as ECM representative for Assembly 5, so I hope to meet lots of ECMs at the meeting and look to boost activity over the next year. The assembly meeting is a good opportunity to hear how our assembly is growing and discover opportunities within the Society. We will talk about ECM activities and there is always time afterwards to catch up. It is an exciting time for new therapeutics in COPD. Personally, I am excited to hear about new developments from randomised controlled trials in the field, but also identification of novel biomarkers and opportunities for earlier intervention.
Q: In your opinion, what will be the highlights for ECMs in Assembly 5 during the ERS Congress?
The sessions dedicated to ECMs are a must-see! For those lucky enough to have a space, the Networking Excellence Training (NEXT) programme is a fantastic bootcamp to build on skills such as presenting and writing. During the ECM session on Monday 29 September at 15:45, as well as several interesting talks, there will be opportunities for ECMs to learn how to get involved in society activities. The pre-congress postgraduate sessions offer a more intimate and interactive learning experience as well as a good chance to network. There are many sessions that incorporate more than one airway disease: these sessions are a good opportunity to not only learn of developments in your own field but also to learn from other disease areas.
Q: Tell us your top three picks from the congress programme.
1. The ALERT sessions in airway diseases – abstracts leading to evolution in respiratory medicine trials
These sessions highlight important, late-breaking abstracts concerning clinical trial data. These are always exciting sessions, providing insights into what may be “hot topics” over the next year.
2. Oral presentation – Cutting-edge trial data on biologics for airway diseases: asthma, COPD, chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps and chronic cough
Sunday 28 September, 15:450–17:00 CEST
There are many sessions concerning biologics at Congress. This session is dedicated to advances in biological therapy not only in your own field of interest, but also a great opportunity to learn what is happening in parallel in other airway diseases.
3. Mini symposium – Forewarned is forearmed: cohort studies in the mission to understand structural and immunological determinants of early disease in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Sunday 29 September, 10:15–11:45 CEST
Moving away from randomised clinical trial data, this session is focussed on cohort studies in COPD and will highlight opportunities for earlier intervention and screening.