As delegates get ready to head to Adelaide next week for TSANZSRS 2018 we spoke to Chair of the conference organising committee and local respiratory physician Dr Phan Nguyen to get his take on the not to miss sessions and highlights.

This year’s program is jam packed with high quality sessions around the theme clinical and research challenges, making it extremely difficult to choose some stand out sessions, says Dr Nguyen.

However, the TSANZ plenary sessions are always a good place to start. In a joint TSANZ ANZSRS plenary at 8:30 am on Sunday local speakers Professor David Currow and Associate Professor Marie Williams, Professor Lorimer Moseley will highlight the issues of dyspnoea and pain in lung disease.

Hot on their heels at 10:30am Professor Peter Gibson and Professor Don Sindon from Canada will take to the stage to update delegates on how understanding the heterogeneity of severe asthma can help identify better management strategies for patients.

They’ll be joined by Jay Horvat who will talk about lessons learned from experimental models of severe asthma and COPD.

And in the OLIV- state of the art: plenary  on Tuesday at 15:30 the TSANZ will formally launch its position statements on the diagnosis and treatment of IPF.  The session will include a talk from international expert Dr Mary Strek from Chicago in the US on the diagnosis and management of IPF: beyond the evidence.

Other conference highlights include:

Professor DorAnne Donesky will give a talk on symptom support and palliative care at the TSANZ Respiratory Nurses SIG (Saturday 8:45);

At the same time Susan Ward from the UK will be speaking at an ANZSRS session on exercise intolerance in respiratory disease (Saturday 8:30)

John Bourbeau from Canada will be talking about we know about managing dyspnea with non-bronchodilator medication in advanced COPD: Pulmonary rehabilitation, opioids and cannabis? (Saturday 14:30)

Viral pandemics expert and WHO advisory panel member Professor David Hui from Hong Kong will present on the role of NIV in viral pandemics (Saturday 15:30);

In a bright and early breakfast session Dr Dirk Jan Slebos and Karin Klooster will host a meet the experts session on tricky lung volume reduction cases (Sunday, 7:00am);

This years Wunderly Oration will be given by someone a little different from previous Wunderly Orators — His Excellency, The Governor General of South Australia Mr Hieu Van Le (Monday at 1pm).

Professor Francine Ducharme from Canada will speak on preschool asthma at two sessions (Monday 14:15 and Tuesday (13:35)

Professor Janelle York from the UK will talk on anxiety, depression and sex life in asthma (Monday 8.30am).

Professor Harm Tiddens from The Netherlands will present in the TSANZ session on the role of lung imaging in cystic fibrosis (Tuesday, 9:10).

Cabinet reshuffle, research dollars and extra curricular fun

And in other conference highlights, a shift on the TSANZ board will take place at this year’s AGM, with three board positions up for election, including  a new President Elect to be announced (Saturday at 12:00).

Research awards are also a highlight this year, with around $1 million to be presented at a joint TSANZ/LFA/CFA/NAC respiratory research excellence reception on Saturday evening at 5pm.

By the time delegates have navigated their way through the programme they may be ready to let their hair down and put their masks up at the Masquerade themed annual dinner at the Adelaide oval on Tuesday night.

And for delegates lucky enough to have some time for a bit of rest and relaxation between sessions  Dr Nguyen says Adelaide has a lot to offer.

Some of his highlights include a wine tour of the surrounding Barossa valley, a 12km tram ride to Glenelg beach, or a trip to Hahndorf – Australia’s oldest German settlement in the Adelaide hills. A quick trip to the Adelaide central markets is also a must.

the limbic will be reporting live from the conference. To check out session times and get news as it happens you can download the TSANZ conference app for iphones here or Android here. 

You can also  login on to www.thelimbic.com or follow us on twitter @thelimbicresp. The conference hashtag is #tsanzsrs18