The Gold Coast is famous for its theme parks, so perhaps it won’t be strange to see Super Heroes fronting up to the final event of the TSANZSRS Annual Scientific Meeting.
The Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand (TSANZ) and Australia and New Zealand Society of Respiratory Science (ANZSRS) Annual Scientific Meetings will be held at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre from 29 March – 2 April 2019.
Encouraging cosplay, the TSANZ Super Heroes vs Super Bugs Gala Dinner sounds like a hoot and is consistent with the overarching theme of the meeting – respiratory infections.
The first plenary of the meeting is a joint ANZSRS/TSANZ session on Bugs Behaving Badly (Sunday, 8.30am).
It will be co-chaired by one of the international guests Eva Polverino from Barcelona and includes another overseas speaker Luke Hoffman from Seattle on challenging our understanding of respiratory pathogens.
TSANZSRS Committee chair Dr Denise O’Driscoll told the limbic both international guests are also on the program in an Emerging strategies for the management of bronchiectasis plenary (Sunday, 10.30am).
“The session is going to be discussing the nuances of management of bronchiectasis, given that there is no gold standard. “
The final plenary of the whole meeting is Battle of the Bugs – respiratory viruses vs bacteria – which is worse?
“It’s a debate session. Who doesn’t love a debate? All our experts are going to be discussing viruses and bacteria in different diseases including CF and COPD. And at the end of the session, we are going to decide who wins with a live vote. So it’s a fun way to finish off the program.”
Other highlights on the program include the annual Wunderly Oration (Monday, 1pm).
“This year we are fortunate to have it delivered by Anne Kelso, CEO of the NHMRC. She is going to be discussing medical research in Australia today and tomorrow so hopefully we are getting a really nice overview of research funding in Australia,” Dr O’Driscoll said.
All TSANZ SIGs have their dedicated sessions on the program. A joint symposium with respiratory nurses will cover advanced care planning and assisted dying (Saturday, 1.30pm).
A Meet the Experts session on ILD including four international speakers will provide the opportunity for discussion on difficult cases (Sunday, 12.30pm).
A symposium on tobacco control in Australia and New Zealand will include discussion on the challenge of achieving cessation in Indigenous populations and in people with mental illness. There will also be an update on the TSANZ position on e-cigarettes (Saturday, 3.30pm).
Delegates are also reminded not to miss the TSANZ Awards for Respiratory Research Excellence (Sat, 5pm), which will be held just ahead of the welcome reception (Saturday, 6pm).
“We’re also co-hosting the Asia Pacific Congress in Bronchology and Interventional Pulmonology immediately prior to TSANZSRS meeting.”
The TSANZSRS ASM will be held at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre at Broadbeach from 29 March to 2 April.