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2014 – Aging and Lung Disease: Clinical Impact and Cellular and Molecular Pathways

The Pittsburgh Munich Lung Conference held in October 2014 was the first co-host conference with the Comprehensive Pneumology Center Munich, Germany.
The two-day conference was focused in Aging and Lung Disease: Clinical Impact and Cellular and Molecular Pathways and proved to be the most well attended conference to date, with more than 300 national and international attendees.

The objective of the 2014 conference was to bring together leading clinical, translational, and basic investigators in aging biology, and lung diseases. Two days of talks and discussions focused on the biology of aging, the molecular mechanisms linking aging to lung disease, the age-related changes in the lung that contribute to the decline in baseline respiratory dynamics, response to stressors and vulnerability to pulmonary diseases. With the expected rapid growth of the aging worldwide, there is a clear need to understand the complex process of aging and senescence and the impact in the pathogenesis of age-related diseases.

The 2014 Pittsburgh-Munich Lung Conference highlighted the clinical aspects of age-related lung diseases as well as research advances that will drive the development of new therapeutic and diagnostic approaches for this group of patients.

The program included six plenary sessions, such as:

  • Mitochondria and Aging
  • Age, Genetics, and Lung Diseases
  • Molecular Drivers of Cell Aging, and their Impact in the Respiratory System
  • The “Omics” of Aging
  • Lung Diseases and Aging
  • Aging Lung Cells and Repair

Each session ended with a panel discussion, allowing
an opportunity for questions and further interaction
among participants.

A poster reception with more than 60 posters followed the scientific sessions on Friday, providing an excellent forum for researchers to present their cutting-edge science. Ten Outstanding Poster Awards were selected. Winners included N. Cardenes, J. Sembrat, M. Bueno, Y Lai, I. Ghouleh, H. Kling, SH Han, M. Sauler, J. Radder, and K. Mutze

Featured keynote speaker at the Banquet Dinner on Friday evening was Brian K. Kennedy, PhD, CEO and Professor at the Buck Institute for Aging.  Dr. Kennedy spoke on Aging and Chronic Disease – A View from the Aging Side.

Distinguished speakers included:

  • Piero Anversa, MD| Harvard Medical School
  • Mary Armanios, MD| Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
  • William E. Balch, PhD | Scripps Research Institute
  • Panayiotis (Takis) Benos, PhD | University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
  • Timothy S. Blackwell, MD| Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
  • Marta Bueno, PhD | University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
  • Oliver Eickelberg, MD* | Ludwig-Maximilians University and Helmholtz Zentrum München
  • Ming-Hui Fan, MD | University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
  • Kevin F. Gibson, MD | University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
  • Mark Gladwin, MD* | University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
  • Kevin P. High, MD, MS | Wake Forest School of Medicine
  • Dean P. Jones, PhD | Emory University School of Medicine
  • Valerian E. Kagan, PhD, DSc | University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health
  • Daniel J. Kass, MD | University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
  • Brian K. Kennedy, PhD | The Buck Institue for Research on Aging
  • Stuart K. Kim, PhD | Stanford School of Medicine
  • Melanie Königshoff, MD, PhD | Helmholtz Research School Lung Biology and Disease
  • Patty J. Lee, MD | Yale School of Medicine
  • Kathleen O. Lindell, PhD | University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
  • Michael T. Lotze, MD | McGowan Institute, University of Pittsburgh
  • Matthias Mann, PhD | Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry
  • Gustavo Matute-Bello, MD | University of Washington
  • Silke Meiners, PhD | Munich Comprehensive Pneumology Center
  • Ana Mora, MD* | University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
  • Enid Neptune, MD | Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
  • Anne B. Newman, MD, MPH | University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health
  • Paul W. Noble, MD | Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
  • Annie Pardo, PhD | Universidad Autónoma de Mexico
  • Irina Petrache, MD | Indiana University of Medicine
  • Joseph Pilewski, MD | University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
  • John J. Reilly, Jr, MD | University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
  • Mauricio Rojas, MD* | University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
  • Jesse Roman, MD, FACCP, FACP | University of Louisville School of Medicine
  • Ivan O. Rosas, MD | Harvard Medical School
  • Michael N. Sack, MD, PhD | National Heart Lung and Blood Institute
  • Frank C. Sciurba, MD, FCCP | University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
  • John Michael Sedivy, PhD | Brown University
  • Moisés Selman, MD | Mexican National Institute of Respiratory Diseases
  • Sruti Shiva, PhD | University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
  • Dr. Ali Önder Yildirim | Munich Comprehensive Pneumology Center
  • Yutong Zhao, MD, PhD | University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

*Denotes Organizing Committee Member