The American Thoracic Society (ATS)’s annual international conference, held in Orlando in May 2026, drew over 14,000 participants from more than 100 countries for six days of scientific sessions, clinical trials, and educational programming. The overarching theme was a field in transition — one being reshaped by artificial intelligence and precision medicine, while holding firm to its commitment to patient-centred care and equity.
AI dominated much of the agenda. The opening keynote, delivered by UCSF’s Robert Wachter — author of a recent book on AI in healthcare — struck a tone of cautious optimism, acknowledging both the transformative potential of tools like ambient documentation and clinical decision-support systems, and the real risks around misinformation, privacy, and the possible erosion of clinical skills. His core argument: AI doesn’t need to be flawless to be beneficial, just better than what exists today. A dedicated AI Lab offered hands-on exploration of these technologies in pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine contexts.
The conference was equally attentive to the human side of medicine. A plenary session featuring Rana Awdish, a physician who survived catastrophic critical illness and wrote about the experience, brought the focus back to communication, empathy, and the lasting impact that clinician interactions have on patients long after they leave hospital — a powerful counterweight to the technology-heavy programme.
On the clinical front, several significant trial results were presented. In pulmonary hypertension, the ADVANCE OUTCOMES trial reported that ralinepag — an oral prostacyclin receptor agonist — reduced the risk of clinical worsening by 55% compared to placebo in pulmonary arterial hypertension patients on background therapy, with consistent benefits across patient subgroups and improvements in exercise capacity and biomarker levels. The results reinforced a growing sense among specialists that pulmonary arterial hypertension treatment has entered a new therapeutic era.
Read more at this link on the American Medical Journal
Citation
Respir AMJ. 2026;4[1]:26-29. https://doi.org/10.33590/respiramj/NO08144K