18 October, 2023
The Adult Cystic Fibrosis Conference (ACFC) is a new conference for 2023, taking place from 1–2 December in Milan, Italy, as well as online. This important new event will provide an overview of the diagnosis, treatment, and continuous management of cystic fibrosis in adults.
Alongside being a member of the organising committee for the conference, Mirjam Stahl is a Consultant Physician and Head of the Division of Cystic Fibrosis at Universitätsmedizin Berlin. We spoke to Mirjam ahead of this new event to find out more.
Tell us about the Adult Cystic Fibrosis Conference and why it is so important
The ACFC is a joint venture of the European Respiratory Society (ERS) and European Cystic Fibrosis Society (ECFS), aiming to bring together caretakers of adults with CF and to discuss the new challenges in the field.
Given the increasing proportion of adults with CF (they are already outnumbering paediatric patients in several European countries), there is a growing need for physicians, and other medical staff trained in adult medicine, to join teams caring for CF patients.
Up to now, care for adults with CF has often taken place in children’s hospitals, performed by paediatricians. While these clinicians may be well-experienced in CF care, there is an increasing need for more experts in adult CF care. Due to the substantially improved life expectancy of our patients with CF, “normal” problems of an aging, and hopefully one day elderly, CF population, will get more and more important.
Furthermore, improvements in CF therapy has led to new perspectives for people with CF. For example, family planning and having a career is something that is now common in the majority of people with CF.
This conference will be of great interest to everyone from a medical specialty who already takes care of adult people with CF, or plans to do so in the future.
What can you tell us about the conference programme?
Delegates can expect a lively exchange on various current aspects of CF care. In addition to topics that concern all age groups, such as diagnosis, there will also be a focus on topics that are particularly relevant for the care of adult CF patients, such as pregnancy and parenthood, or secondary diseases of CF. The format includes not only oral presentations by experts, but also poster discussions on research topics and clinical cases.
What are the advantages of holding this event with ECFS?
The ACFC is an opportunity to bring the relatively rare disease CF into the focus of the ERS audience. Through the connection to the ECFS, many CF experts are involved in the planning and implementation of the conference, so that the participants can expect the most up-to-date knowledge to be conveyed.
What are you looking forward to most about the event?
I’m really looking forward to the discussion on exciting and challenging clinical cases and, as a paediatric pulmonologist, I love to learn more about the newest trends in treating pulmonary, but also extrapulmonary, features of CF in adults.
What can people expect from the online and onsite attendee options?
Onsite attendance will give participants the full experience with lively discussion and hallway conversations, that are sometimes the most fruitful. Onsite attendees will also benefit from case-based and meet the expert sessions, which will only be available in person. However, online attendance will allow people to participate in live symposia sessions on many important topics in CF, therefore providing a good grounding to start your own journey in CF care.
Registration for the Adult Cystic Fibrosis Conference 2023 is currently open, with both on-site and online spaces available.