A shorter program this year doesn’t mean delegates at the combined annual scientific meetings of the Australia and New Zealand Society of Respiratory Science and the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand (TSANZSRS) will be getting shortchanged.

Instead, according to TSANZ board member and conference convenor Dr Denise O’Driscoll, the program is tightly packed with high quality sessions around the theme Novel Therapeutic Interventions.

First day highlights include TSANZ Themed Symposium on Novel Therapies in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) and Novel Therapies in Non-IPF ILD – with each session led by French guest speaker Professor Bruno Crestani. (Sun, 1.30 & 3.30pm)

“To further highlight our theme, our first plenary on the Sunday will feature two of our international speakers from the US – David Feller-Kopman and Sally Wenzel – in a pro and con debate on the merits of bronchial thermoplasty.” (Sun, 10.30)

Dr O’Driscoll told the limbic delegates would also be interested hearing Associate Professor Feller-Kopman again in the intriguingly named session, I wish I had not done that! (Tues, 1pm)

Dr Wenzel will also help wrap up the conference in the final plenary on biological therapies in severe asthma. (Tues, 3pm)

Other conference highlights include:

• Professor Jennifer Martin, a founding member of the Australian Academy of Science ‘Science in Australia Gender Equity’ (SAGE) steering committee will give the Wunderly Oration. (Mon, 2.15pm)
• A combined TSANZ and ANZSRS plenary on the pulmonary vascular system (Sun, 8.30am) and masterclass on the pulmonary vascular system and the heart. (Sun, 1pm)
• New on the program this year is a hotly contested session on late breaking abstracts led by two presentations on thunderstorm asthma. (Tues, 8.30am)

And here’s hoping there are no awkward moments during the award presentations at the TSANZ Gala Dinner. The theme for the black-tie event is ‘Night at the Oscars’ (Tues, 7pm).

TSANZSRS 2017 is being held at the National Convention Centre, Canberra 24-28 March. We’ll be reporting live from the conference so watch this space!

For more information and the full conference program click here.