Airway diseases

Airway diseases comprise a broad range of chronic lung diseases which are of interest to a wide variety of respiratory specialists, from clinicians and allied health professionals, to scientists and researchers.

The ERS International Congress programme includes a dedicated airway diseases track that has been developed by experts in the field. The track includes a variety of activities for health professionals who are involved in the management of patients with airway diseases and for researchers with an interest in this disease area.

View all sessions in the airway diseases track

Omar Usmani – Head

Q: What are you most looking forward to at this year’s Congress in the airway diseases field?

A: Within our Assembly, there has been real energy from all the officers this year to put together a really strong and special programme for the Congress in the airway diseases field, especially as it has been 3 years since we all last met on site in 2019. Do try to attend the Assembly 5 members’ meeting where we would welcome your thoughts and ideas for next year’s Congress, which we are already planning.

Q: Is there a specific session in this track that should not be missed?

A: My top 4 picks for this year are

• The Assembly 5 State-of-the-art session, where we will be updated in a palette of topics from COPD, cough, and mucus to respiratory biomarkers.
• The ERS clinical practice guidelines on asthma diagnosis in adults, which will inform us of a pragmatic approach to diagnosing asthma in primary and secondary care.
• The Lungs on fire session on Airway diseases, where we all learn something new every time, from the challenging clinical cases that are presented
• The Hot Topic session on the future of inhalation therapy, where we will hear about emerging inhaled drugs and vaccines and inhalation devices

Carolina Gotera – Early-career representative

Q: What does Congress offer to early career professionals who specialise in airway diseases?

A: After a long wait, we return to the face-to-face Congress with a lot of enthusiasm. The ERS Congress is a great opportunity for early career professionals whose training has been affected by the pandemic to update their knowledge, learn about ERS-sponsored fellowship options and, of course, meet people. We have many interesting sessions, but the ones not to miss are: the State of the art session “Precision medicine for asthma, COPD and chronic cough: New drugs, new biomarkers and new approaches”, where we will have the opportunity to hear from experts in COPD and, of course, the session on Guidelines: “ERS clinical practice guidelines on the diagnosis of asthma in adults” useful in clinical practice.