2024 ATS Conference News Preview - 6

6
ATS 2024 CONFERENCE NEWS
Trailblazing Researcher to Bring Philosophy
of Mentorship to Women's Forum
A
trailblazing physician-scientist
known for her
mentorship of fellow
researchers and whose
work was instrumental in
the discovery of paradigm-shifting
understanding about cell plasticity
will offer career insights and inspiration
at the Women's Forum at the
ATS 2024 International Conference
alongside the presentation of
the Elizabeth Rich Award and an
introduction to the ATS/MECOR
Leadership Program in Africa.
As the featured speaker, Zea
Borok, MD, ATSF, will share her experiences
as a woman and a leader in
medicine.
" This forum is an opportunity
to promote the work of women in
our field. There still remain gaps in
gender equity across many different
platforms, and the Women's Forum
was created to specifically elevate
the work that women are doing
within the field across all of its
missions - education, clinical work,
and research, " said Meshell Johnson,
MD, chair of the ATS Membership
Committee. " Dr. Borok
exemplifies someone
who has proven to be
an exceptional mentor,
leader, researcher, and
administrator, and we
hope that by sharing
her story, others will
be empowered and
inspired to find ways in
their careers to thrive. "
The annual event
Molecular Medicine at the Keck
School of Medicine at the University
of Southern California in Los Angeles.
Dr. Borok also served as the director
of the Fellowship Training Program in
Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine
(2000-2013) and established a Center
for Gender Equity in Medicine and
Science, of which she was the inaugural
director.
Her contributions to the ATS have
been extensive. Dr. Borok has held
several leadership roles, including
chair of the Program Committee,
chair of the Assembly on Respiratory
Cell and Molecular Biology, and chair
of the International Conference
Committee. She has also served
on other RCMB Assembly and ATS
committees, including the Awards
Committee. Her contributions to the
field and the Society were recognized
with her selection as the 2023
J. Burns Amberson Lecturer at that
year's International Conference.
Throughout her career, Dr. Borok
Zea Borok, MD, ATSF
has prioritized mentoring, advising,
and supporting her colleagues at all
stages of their careers. She said she
is particularly aware of
the challenges facing
female faculty members
and focuses her
time mentoring and
sponsoring other female
scientists seeking
career advancement
within their fields of
research.
The focus of Dr.
will take place from
11:45 a.m.-1:15 p.m. PT
on Monday, May 20, at
the Seaport Tower at
the Grand Hyatt San
Diego. It is organized
and presented by
the ATS Membership
Committee and will be
hosted by Dr. Johnson and Vice Chair
Alexandra Noel, PhD. There is a $30
registration fee to attend.
Dr. Borok is the Helen M. Ranney
professor of medicine and chair of
the Department of Medicine at the
University of California, San Diego.
Previously, she served as the Ralph
Edgington Chair in Medicine, division
chief of pulmonary and critical care
medicine, and the Hastings Professor
of Medicine and Biochemistry and
Borok's laboratory is on
alveolar epithelial cell
biology and plasticity in
the context of lung injury
repair and fibrosis.
In 2017, Dr. Borok
Stephanie Davis,
MD, ATSF
was recognized for
her contributions to
pulmonary, critical care,
and sleep medicine, and
as a mentor with the ATS Elizabeth
A. Rich Award.
ELIZABETH A. RICH AWARD
Stephanie Davis, MD, ATSF, the 2024
recipient of the Elizabeth A. Rich
Award will also give remarks during
the Women's Forum. The honor
is presented to an outstanding
woman in the ATS who has made
significant contributions to
respiratory medicine.
Dr. Davis is the
Edward C. Curnen, Jr.
Distinguished Professor
and chair of Pediatrics
at the University of
North Carolina at
Chapel Hill School
of Medicine and the
Physician in Chief for
UNC Children's. Her
NIH-funded research
focuses on elucidating
early lung disease
through sensitive endpoints
and biomarkers,
specifically in cystic
fibrosis, primary ciliary
dyskinesia (PCD), and
chronic lung disease
related to prematurity.
Since 2019, Dr. Davis has served
Indonesia, Vietnam,
China, and India.
Dr. Buist is a proA.
Sonia Buist, MD
fessor emerita of
Medicine, Pulmonary
and Critical Care
Medicine at the Oregon
Health and Science
University. She previously
served as head
Obianuju Ozoh, MD
as the contact principal investigator
for the NCATS- and NHLBI-funded
Genetic Disorders of Mucociliary
Clearance Consortium.
Dr. Davis is passionate about
educating trainees and early career
faculty development. She has served
on numerous scholarship oversight
and research mentoring committees,
and as the mentor for over 50 trainees
and early-career faculty.
An ATS Fellow, she has served
as chair of the Pediatric Assembly,
chair of the Pediatric Program
Committee and chair of the
Pediatric Nominating Committee,
and currently serves as chair of the
Publications Policy Committee. She
has been a member of the Board
of Directors, the Infant/Preschool
PFT Standardization Taskforce, the
Research Advocacy Committee, and
the Pediatric Planning Committee.
ATS/MECOR LEADERSHIP
PROGRAM IN AFRICA
A. Sonia Buist, MD, and Obianuju
Ozoh, MD, will discuss a new
initiative designed to enhance
leadership capacities among
women in Africa. The ATS/MECOR
Leadership Program in Africa will be
fully funded by the ATS through a
generous individual donation.
The ATS Methods in Epidemiologic,
Clinical and Operations Research
(MECOR) Program trains pulmonary
physicians in clinical and epidemiologic
research in resource-poor
countries. It has over 2,500 graduates
in Latin America, Turkey, Africa,
of the OHSU Division of
Pulmonary and Critical
Care for 20 years, on the
Editorial Board of the
New England Journal of
Medicine, and as president
of the ATS. She
started, and for 25 years
directed, the ATS MECOR
Program. She also started
the Burden of Obstructive Lung
Disease (BOLD) Study that is creating
a database of COPD prevalence and
its risk factors worldwide.
Dr. Ozoh is an associate professor
of Medicine at the Department
of Medicine, Faculty of Clinical
Sciences, College of Medicine of the
University of Lagos, Nigeria. She is
also a consultant pulmonologist
at the affiliated Lagos University
Teaching Hospital.
Her research focuses on the
epidemiology of chronic respiratory
diseases, developing interventions
to reduce exposure to risk factors
and improving access to services for
diagnosis and treatment. She engages
in clinical training and research
capacity building for respiratory
disease in Africa and is the co-director
of the Pan African Thoracic
Society Methods in Epidemiologic,
Clinical and Operations Research
(PATS MECOR) Program and the Vice
President of PATS. She is a science
committee and board member of the
Global Initiative on Obstructive Lung
Disease (GOLD).
Dr. Ozoh strongly advocates for
individuals with respiratory diseases
and has developed a patient
education program for asthma
using task shifting. She is the first
recipient of the Buist's Pathway to
leadership award and received the
World Lung Health award of the ATS
in 2023.
ATS thanks United Therapeutics
and Regeneron Healthcare Solutions
for their support of the Women's
Forum.
https://conference.thoracic.org/program/events/womens-forum.php
2024 ATS Conference News Preview

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of 2024 ATS Conference News Preview
