American Thoracic Society Annual International Congress

The 2007 International Congress of the American Thoracic Society (ATS) was held in San Francisco, California. It is one of the most important conferences in pulmonary medicine. It provides an annual forum for scientists and clinical investigators from academia and non-university institutions including private practices and pharmaceutical companies to share information on many aspects of pulmonary and critical care medicine, sleep disorders, pulmonary infectious diseases, malignancies of the chest and numerous aspects of diagnostic and interventional procedures in that field. This year approximately 5500 abstracts were presented and approximately 15,000 participants attended the ATS congress. Research areas covered all aspects of pulmonary diseases. Traditionally obstructive pulmonary diseases (e.g., chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma) were again the main focus. The general impression from the meeting was that the focus this year shifted more to basic research of pulmonary diseases, new diagnostic techniques and tools to approximate disease progression rather than presenting new drugs for treatment. Furthermore, new ATS policies for permitting industry sponsored satellite symposia - among other possible reasons - seemed to discourage pharmaceutical companies organizing such evening meetings when compared with previous ATS conferences. When up to five of such symposia used to be normal per night in previous years, just three of these sponsored sessions per night, which were labeled as 'evening postgraduate seminars', were offered at this meeting.