2024 ATS Conference News Preview - 8

8
ATS 2024 CONFERENCE NEWS
BEAR Cage Awards Innovative Ideas
from Young Investigators
THE ATS DRUG DEVICE
Discovery and Development (DDDD)
Committee will showcase three
early-stage investigators in the
10th Annual BEAR Cage (Building
Education to Advance Research)
competition.
Each year, the DDDD Committee
selects three highly innovative
research proposals to be presented
at the International Conference.
Finalists pitch their submissions
to a panel of translational science
experts representing academia,
industry, and governmental sectors
in front of a live audience.
The competition features a
fun, " Shark Tank " -style learning
environment that sparks real-time
feedback and supports the strategic
thinking required for novel ideas to
become practical innovations. After
each presentation, the panel and
audience will have the opportunity
to ask questions of each of the
three finalists.
Once the presentations have
concluded, the panel will award one
grand prize winner $10,000 and the
two runner-up proposals $2,500
each. BEAR Cage prize money is not
grant funding, and how the funds are
spent is at the winners' discretion.
" The BEAR Cage is an excellent
opportunity for new or early-stage
investigators to find a foothold in
the research space, " explained BEAR
Cage Co-Chair Nina Patel, MD. " I think
back to the start of my career when I
had a bunch of ideas and no money
to do anything with them - this is a
place where you can find that funding
you might not receive through a
traditional NIH-based forum. "
Dr. Patel's BEAR Cage Co-Chair,
Josh Fessel, MD, PhD, was the
competition's inaugural winner. He
emphasized his appreciation for
how the competition spotlights
applicants' inventive creativity with
an exciting atmosphere onsite.
" Sometimes, I think we forget
to make sure that there is an
element of fun in the important
and innovative science we're all
striving toward. The BEAR Cage
brings the fun, " Dr. Fessel said. " For
applicants, it's an opportunity to
pitch and develop ideas they're
passionate about. "
He also shared that the DDDD
Committee's job of selecting
finalists has become increasingly
difficult.
" It gets truer every year: The ideas
that come in are really neat! I would
say to anybody who applies and
isn't selected as a finalist, please
submit again if you are still eligible.
The odds are it was a great idea, but
we can only pick three people to
present on stage, " Dr. Fessel said.
Sreyankar Nandy, PhD
Last year, Sreyankar Nandy, PhD,
was awarded the $10,000 funding
prize for his proposal, " Endobronchial
Optical Coherence Tomography
(EB-OCT): A Novel Imaging Technique
for Early Microscopic Diagnosis
and Monitoring of Interstitial Lung
Disease. "
" This is a 'Shark Tank' atmosphere,
but I found it very enriching, "
Dr. Nandy said after the 2023
competition. " All the questions were
very specific and very pertinent - a
very engrossing experience. "
The application deadline for this
year's BEAR Cage has passed. For
any questions about the application
process or the competition
for ATS 2025, please email
dddd@thoracic.org.
Sometimes, I think we forget to make sure that there is an
element of fun in the important and innovative science we're all
striving toward. The BEAR Cage brings the fun. "
BEAR Cage Co-Chair Josh Fessel, MD, PhD
Mobile App Keeps the International
Conference at Your Fingertips
STREAMLINE YOUR ATS 2024
International Conference experience with a
new mobile app set to launch in early May.
Available for iOS and Android devices, and for
the first time with a web platform, the conference
app will feature a robust menu of resources to
enable attendees to connect with the people,
events, and opportunities that will help them
make the most of their time in San Diego.
In addition to building an individual agenda,
users will be able to network with one another
through the app's chat and easily exchange
contact information through the badge
scanner. The app also will make personalized
recommendations for sessions, events, and
connections based on a user's interests and
profiles.
Maps within the app will help attendees
find their way. The app will feature indoor GPS
for the San Diego Convention Center and the
Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina headquarter
hotel. Users should enable Bluetooth to get
precise directions to booths, sessions, areas of
interest, and what's happening nearby.
Consult the app for additional details on:
* Sessions
* Abstracts
* Speakers
* Events
* Exhibitors
*
Industry Programs
* Early Career Info
* General Conference Info
* FAQs
To tap into all of these resources,
attendees are encouraged to download
the app and sign in before the start of the
International Conference.
2024 ATS Conference News Preview

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