Connect Through Shared Journeys
Everyone has a story to tell. Join us at the Networking Super Center, SpeakEasy, on select days and times to hear how successful ATS members navigated and overcame significant hurdles in their careers.
Sushma Cribbs, MD, MSc, ATSF
Dr. Cribbs is a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine at Emory University. She received her undergraduate and medical degree from Boston University and then completed her Internal Medicine residency, Pulmonary/Critical Care fellowship, and a Master of Science in Clinical Research from Emory University. Dr. Cribbs joined the faculty in 2009 and has held several leadership roles including Medical Director of the Pulmonary Clinic at Grady Memorial Hospital, Associate Program Director of the Pulmonary & Critical Care Fellowship Program, and Director of the Home Oxygen Respiratory Program at the Atlanta VA Hospital.
Dr. Cribbs is currently the Vice Chair for Faculty Development in the Department of Medicine, where she is responsible for the creation and oversight of innovative faculty development programming (including workshops, conferences, mentoring and distinction programs) and leads the department’s promotions and tenure process for all 950+ faculty. Dr. Cribbs’ has also taken her dedication and passion for career development to her national professional society, the American Thoracic Society (ATS), where she has been instrumental in developing, organizing, and implementing novel career development and educational bootcamps, workshops, and training programs for early career members of ATS including the Center for Career Development, the Faculty Development Series, the Student Scholars Program and ATS’s New Faculty Boot Camp at the ATS International Conference. For her dedication and hard work, she received the ATS Presidential Commendation in 2022.
Dr. Cribbs has also made significant contributions to the field of Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine centered around her passions for career development, education, and her scientific interests in HIV-related lung disease, which have now expanded to COVID-19. She has led several multi-disciplinary translational research projects to elucidate the mechanisms by which HIV and other infectious insults affect lung immunity, rendering individuals susceptible to lung infections and lung injury. She is currently leading the NIH “RECOVER study: A Multi-site Observational Study of Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Adults” at the Atlanta VA, which will further our understanding of the long-term impact of COVID-19 in adults. She is currently based at the Atlanta VA where she sees patients and supervises medical students, residents, and fellows.
M. Patricia Rivera, MD, ATSF
Dr. Rivera is a Professor of Medicine and Oncology and the C. Jane Davis & C. Robert Davis Distinguished Professor in Pulmonary Medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center. She serves as Chief of the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine and as an Associate Director of the Wilmot Cancer Institute in Rochester, New York.
Her clinical expertise focuses on the screening, diagnosis, and staging of lung cancer, as well as the management of treatment-related complications. Through NCI-funded research, she investigates the delivery, quality, and outcomes of lung cancer screening, with a focus on developing interventions to improve screening rates.
Dr. Rivera has received numerous honors throughout her career, including the Thoracic Oncology Assembly Lifetime Achievement Award and the ATS Elizabeth Rich Award. She has also held prominent leadership roles in professional societies, most notably serving as President of the American Thoracic Society from 2023 to 2024.
Committed to advancing the field, Dr. Rivera is deeply engaged in research, education, and mentorship, and is dedicated to training the next generation of leaders in pulmonary and critical care medicine.
Ganesh Raghu, MD, ATSF
Dr. Raghu has had a longstanding clinical and scientific interest focused on pathogenesis, diagnosis and management of Interstitial lung diseases(ILD),idiopathic interstitial pneumonia (IIP), Sarcoid, Rheumatological lung diseases, and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) in particular. He is an international authority in these disorders. With nearly four decades of pioneering work, Dr. Raghu has, led major clinical trials and NIH-funded research, and chaired several national and international evidence based guidelines for diagnosis and management of ILD .
Dr. Raghu has authored 425+ original articles, published in peer reviewed medical journals, and nearly 40 books/book chapters has altogether over 475 publications to date. He is among the “Highly cited Researchers” Essential Science Indicators (ESI) as Highly Cited Papers. *Clarivate Web of Science list (of the world’s population of scientists and scientists Highly Cited Researchers are 1 in 1000) in 2019, 2020, 2021 ,2022 and 2025.
At the University of Washington(UW) Medical Center, he currently directs the University of Washington’s Center for ILD ( CILD) as well as directing the WASOG Center for Excellence for Sarcoidosis and Co- Director, Scleroderma clinic. He also served as the Director and Medical Director of the UW Lung transplant program that he initiated, developed and founded in 1991. Following the initiation and founding the UW’s Center for ILD in 2013, he stepped down his administrative and leadership roles of the UW lung transplant program but continues to be the transplant pulmonologist for patients with ILD and remains an active member of the UW Lung transplant program.
A dedicated patient advocate, he continues to care for patients at UW Medicine and founded the region’s first pulmonary fibrosis support group, which he has led since 1988.
Yolanda Mageto, MD, MPH, ATSF
Dr. Yolanda N. Mageto is a distinguished pulmonary and critical care physician whose career spans more than three decades of clinical excellence, research leadership, and academic achievement. A graduate of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, she completed her residency in internal medicine at UT Southwestern and her fellowship in pulmonary and critical care medicine at the University of Washington, where she also earned a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology.
Over the course of her career, Dr. Mageto has held faculty positions at the University of Washington, UT Southwestern, and the University of Vermont, where she rose to the rank of full Professor. She currently serves as Professor of Medicine at Texas A&M School of Medicine and as Medical Director of Interstitial Lung Disease at Baylor University Medical Center Dallas — a nationally recognized program she has built and led with distinction.
A clinician-investigator with expertise in interstitial lung disease and sarcoidosis, Dr. Mageto has served as principal investigator on numerous clinical trials and contributed to landmark American Thoracic Society guidelines and statements. She is a passionate advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion in academic medicine and has held leadership roles within the ATS, including service on its Board of Directors.
Through years of clinical practice, leadership, and mentorship, she has built a career shaped not only by professional achievement, but also by perseverance through the challenges and pivots that define mid-career growth.