ERS Assembly 6: Epidemiology and environment

Group 06.01
Chair: Om Prakash Kurmi
Secretary: Vanessa Garcia-Larsen

Our Group consists of approximately 100 members from 26 countries. The members comprise of epidemiologists, clinicians with respiratory epidemiology as their main research interest, and statisticians. Over the years, many of the members have established good contacts and are involved in various research activities, such as cross-sectional studies, longitudinal surveys and large controlled trials.

Group 06.02
Chair: Rafael E. de la Hoz
Secretary: Sara De Matteis

This Group comprises of several hundred members representing most European countries. The members are mainly pulmonary physicians, but are also specialists in occupational medicine, allergists and epidemiologists.

Our Group works closely with the Group 06.01 and Assembly 1, and we arrange several postgraduate courses and symposia during the annual ERS Congress. Our main interests include: pneumoconiosis, occupational cancers, asthma and COPD. Currently we are focusing on the effects of occupational and environmental exposures on respiratory health, specifically on elucidating the mechanisms for air pollution-induced airway inflammation, as well as performing risk assessments. New statistical approaches on asthma and COPD in cohort studies have been developed. Our Group also wishes to improve the training of pulmonary physicians in the occupational aspects of respiratory disease.

Group 06.03
Chair: Elif Dagli
Secretary: Stamatoula Tsikrika

Our main objectives for the next years will be as follows:

• to promote a proactive role of all European respiratory physicians in tobacco control activities ( smoke-free policies, smoking prevention programs in youngsters, tobacco control legislation at national level, smoking cessation strategies);
• to work together with other ERS groups and bodies in order to integrate smoking status assessment and smoking cessation therapy into current management of patients' respiratory condition;
• to increase smoking cessation knowledge and skills among all chest physicians, by promoting best standards and harmonized education across Europe in the field of smoking cessation;
• to facilitate research towards investigation of respiratory disorders smokers’ characteristics and new treatments to quit smoking;
• to provide upon request educational resources to other allied health professionals willing to get involved in assistance of different categories of smokers;
• and to try developing internet-based smoking cessation programmes.