Climate Change, Health Disparities Take the Stage at CHEST 2022

For the first time since 2019, pulmonologists, sleep specialists, and other lung health care providers will convene in-person for the annual CHEST 2022 meeting. This year’s conference is in Nashville, Tennessee, from October 16-19, 2022.

As with many medical meetings, some of the presentations from the annual American College of Chest Physicians event will be livestreamed or on demand for later viewing.

There will be more than 300 educational sessions at the meeting—last held in New Orleans—organized by 8 curriculum areas: obstructive lung disease, sleep, chest infections, cardiovascular/pulmonary vascular disease, pulmonary procedures/lung cancer/cardiothoracic surgery, interstitial lung disease/radiology, interdisciplinary/practice operations/education, and critical care.

The keynote speaker is Neil Pasricha, a Canadian author, speaker, and podcaster who focuses on gratitude, happiness, failure, resilience, connection, and trust. His talk, “The Art of Happiness,” begins Sunday at 3:45 PM CT.

Getting back to that sort of personal connection is what excites Subani Chandra, MD, FCCP, the chair of the Scientific Program Committee for the meeting after 3 years of no in-person conferences. “We are humans. We are designed to be around other humans,” said Chandra, who is a pulmonologist and critical care specialist at the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University and an associate professor of medicine.

She is also the vice chair for the training and transitions committee, which guides new fellows and specialists. There are numerous events and sessions for this group as well, many of whom likely started their careers during COVID-19 surges and shutdowns.

Many sessions examine the impact of health disparities across different areas, including in lung cancer, pulmonary arterial hypertension, sleep health, acute pulmonary embolism sarcoidosis, transplantation, smoking and vaping, and vaccine knowledge and uptake.

There are also a series of presentations and sessions on the impact of climate change and lung health.

In addition, there is educational content on how different diseases affect individuals by gender, including one on the management of women with peripartum cardiomyopathy during pregnancy.

Earlier this year, CHEST responded to members who asked if the meeting would be moved from Nashville in the wake of the Dobbs vs Jackson’s Women’s Health decision. “Boycotting of a location or region rarely results in an outcome that changes laws or amplifies the voice of opposition,” the organization said, adding that vulnerable populations may be hurt economically through such actions, such as through the loss of income, and instead asked for members to become advocates for change.

In another statement, the organization reiterated the belief that patients have the right to make health care decisions privately with their physicians.