ERS, the European Respiratory Society, is the world's largest consortium of pulmonary experts, along with its US affiliate ATS. In September 2018, Prof. Dr. Tobias Welte, Clinic Director of Pulmonology of the Hannover Medical School (MHH), took over the presidency of the ERS.
On June 5th, Prof. Welte received the internationally leading doctors and researchers in pneumology at the ERS's annual Presidential Summit, which took place at Schloss Herrenhausen in Hanover. In addition to 120 scientists, the invited guests included the presidents of the MHH, Prof. Dr. Michael Manns and Dr. Andreas Tecklenburg.
The event was organized in cooperation with the German Center for Lung Research (DZL), Prof. Welte being one of its board members. In addition to the directors of the various DZL locations, scientists from the DZL were also invited. The friendly family atmosphere of the event was well suited for an exchange with the international colleagues.
As a central topic the summit dealt with the "Unmet Needs in Respiratory Medicine". In lectures and small groups this important challenge for the future of lung research was examined from different perspectives. The need to expand collaboration with other medical specialties was identified as the common denominator across the various lung diseases. Pulmonary diseases are often associated with diseases of other organ systems, which should potentially be treated together. The presidential summit set an important impetus for this, which will be further discussed and followed up within the ERS after the summit.
The evening at Herrenhausen Palace ended with a walk through the large garden with illumination and water features. Hannover presented itself not only scientifically in the best light.
Source: BREATH
