Mission statement and Operating Rules were approved by the PEDS Assembly
May 2000, Toronto, CA
The mission of the ATS Scientific Assembly on Pediatrics is to promote the respiratory health of children and adolescents and to improve the care of children with respiratory disease through research, education, patient care, and advocacy. The Assembly has an international multidisciplinary membership that includes pediatric sub specialists in pulmonology, allergy-immunology, neonatology, and critical care (and related disciplines), nurses, respiratory therapists, and others. The Assembly serves as advisor to the ATS on child health issues and works together with other national and international organizations toward our common mission of improving the health of children.
Operating Rules for the ATS Scientific Assembly on Pediatrics
I. Name
The name of this Assembly will be the ATS Scientific Assembly on Pediatrics.
II. Objectives
A. To provide a forum for presentation of basic and clinical investigative work in all aspects of normal and abnormal respiratory system growth and development and in respiratory diseases of infants, children, and adolescents.
B. To foster an environment in which investigative work can thrive, by proposing and advocating areas of respiratory research relevant to children to the ATS Scientific Advisory Council and participating in ATS grant review processes.
C. To provide coordination of educational activities of the Assembly, including but not limited to those leading to the development of ATS Statements related to lung growth and development, pediatric respiratory disease and critical care.
D. To provide a resource for those outside the Assembly and the ATS who are interested in obtaining information pertaining to children's respiratory health.
E. To provide a forum for initiatives aimed at improving children's respiratory health and to provide leadership in influencing health care policy affecting children.
F. To provide an interface for the multiple organizations concerned with respiratory health of children and the training of physicians and other health care providers specializing in pediatric respiratory disease. These organizations include, but are not limited to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the Pediatric Pulmonary Training Directors Association (PEPTDA), the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Center Committee, the Pediatric Assembly of the European Respiratory Society (ERS), the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), Society for Pediatric Research (SPR) and the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP).
III. Scope of Activities
The scope of activities of the Assembly will (including but not be limited to):
A. Support for clinical and basic research of the developing respiratory system.
B. Provide greater understanding of the epidemiology and genetic basis of pediatric lung disease
C. Promote the care of acute and chronic respiratory disease in infants, children, and adolescents; including diagnostics (non-invasive and invasive assessment of lung structure and function) and therapeutic methods (pharmacotherapy, mechanical ventilation, respiratory therapy and others)
D. Promote the care and investigation of critically ill infants and children with particular emphasis on new knowledge that can be translated to the patient.
E. Develop novel methods of pediatric pulmonary health care delivery in the ambulatory and inpatient settings.