Anatomy of ATS: How Early and Mid-Career Professionals Get Involved Resources

The Allergy, Immunology and Inflammation Assembly of the ATS is one of the two oldest ATS Assemblies and remains one of the largest and most diverse. Traditionally, AII members have research interests focused on asthma and allergic respiratory disease, immunologic and inflammatory mechanisms of lung disease, lung injury and repair, autoimmune lung disease, transplant immunology, and tumor immunology. However, AII is also home to the Section on Genetics and Genomics, which unites members interested in the application of “omics” technologies (genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, etc) as they pertain to the diverse array of diseases encountered in pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine.

The AII assembly welcomes MD and PhD investigators and clinicians interested in a variety of basic and translational science research topics. Our large size and broad research scope allow for individuals with shared research interests to easily meet, interact, and collaborate both within and outside of the annual ATS International Conference. In addition, AII has one of the largest percentages of international members and an active International Relations Advisory Committee designed to facilitate networking with investigators across the globe.

Despite our large size, getting involved in the AII Assembly is easy regardless of the stage of your career! The best way to become involved in AII is to attend our annual membership business meeting at the annual ATS International Conference. At the meeting, the Assembly chair addresses issues important to ATS members, committee chairs give updates on their respective committees, and an ATS officer provides updates on the ATS as a whole. Other ways to get involved include signing up for the AII mentorship program, AII apprenticeship program, volunteering to serve on an Assembly committee, or participating in the planning and selection of an article for our monthly online journal club or moderating a podcast. Please feel free to reach out to any of the ECPWG members or enter your information on the “get involved” page on the ATS website (https://www.thoracic.org/members/assemblies/get-involved-with-ats.php).

Rachel Scheraga, MD
AII ECPWG Chair

The BSHSR Assembly is home to clinical and research experts in a wide variety of fields including medical education research, clinical epidemiology, health disparities, health systems research, quality improvement, and population health and implementation science; just to name a few. Additionally, the assembly is home to the Section on Medical Education (SoME), the home in ATS for people who focus on the training of students, residents and the education of patients. BSHSR has a number of opportunities for early career professionals. We offer a mentorship program where we pair mentees with mentors in their desired clinical and/or research area of interest. We also have an apprenticeship program where there are opportunities to serve on the Programming or Planning committees. For more information on these programs and others, please visit our early career professional website at https://www.thoracic.org/members/assemblies/assemblies/bshsr/early-career-professionals/

For more information, or to get involved with the early career professionals working group, please contact the co-chairs listed below.

Chair- Jared Chiarchiaro, MD

Co-Chair- Tim Amass, MD

The ATS Assembly on Environmental, Occupational and Population Health (EOPH) works to understand the impact of environmental and occupational exposures on lung health, as well as genetic susceptibility to environmentally related lung disease. Research interests in the assembly include epidemiology, exposure assessment, toxicology, occupational/environmental medicine, and population health. The EOPH assembly is also home to the Section on Terrorism and Inhalational Disasters, which focuses on the effects of inhaled toxins, public health crises, antidotal therapies and countermeasures. Early Career Professionals are greatly valued within the assembly, advocating for assembly focus on cutting-edge research on emerging environmental exposures. ECPs are also heavily involved with the assembly, serving on the planning and programming committees as regular members and apprentices; chairing and facilitating sessions at annual meetings; and creating symposia and workshop proposals, coordinating the apprenticeship and mentor match program, and participating in career development activities through the ECP working group.

If you are interested in getting involved with the EOPH assembly, or have questions, please feel free to reach out to the EOPH ECP working group co-chairs:

Jason Rose, MD, MBA

Meghan E. Rebuli, PhD

The ATS Assembly on Nursing has over 200 national and international members representing the 3 pillars of ATS: pulmonary, critical care and sleep. Our members are scientists, clinicians, and educators who network and collaborate to improve the care of individuals across the lifespan. While we meet annually at the ATS conference, there are numerous networking and professional development opportunities to be involved throughout the year that provide service to the Nursing and scientific communities and can help improve your leadership skills. Early career and/or new members can apply to the Apprenticeship Program. This program allows you, a mentee, to get a "behind the scenes" look at the operations of the assembly while developing skills for evaluation of committee applications and development of committee projects. We also encourage attending the Nursing Assembly business meeting during the ATS Conference. Prior to the business meeting there is an orientation for Early Career and or new Assembly members. Early career opportunities include:

• Membership in the Early Career Working Group (meets annually at the ATS Conference)
• Committee involvement (e.g. Program Committee, etc)
• Apprenticeship Program
• Mentorship Program
• Attending the Orientation at the Nursing Assembly business meeting
• Abstract Scholarships

Feel free to reach out to Lynn Baniak, Early Career Professionals Working Group Chair, or Wanda M. Gibson-Scipio, Ph.D., FNP-BC, ATSF, Assembly Chair, for any further questions.

Do you ever find yourself looking longingly into a sealed sputum cup, wondering what might be hiding inside?

Do you ever wake up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night thinking about new ways to classify pneumonia?

Have you ever been caught in the middle of rounds looking up exotic tic-borne diseases that could explain your patient's presentation?

If you answered yes to any of the questions above, the Assembly on Pulmonary Infections and Tuberculosis (PI-TB) might just be the place for you. We bring together researchers and clinicians studying every aspect of host/pathogen interaction, from HIV to TB, the microbiome to molecular diagnostics, all while traveling the globe stamping out disease one rogue bacterium at a time. If you've ever looked up how to treat CAP or diagnose TB, you've already seen our members in action. We're always looking for new recruits in the War on Contagion, so drop us a line and say hello.

Sincerely,

Bashar S. Staitieh
Chair, PI-TB Early Career Working Group

The ATS Scientific Assembly on Pulmonary Rehabilitation (PR) works to enhance the development, implementation and outcomes of pulmonary rehabilitation through patient care, research, education, and advocacy. The PR Assembly is home to clinicians and researchers alike, from many disciplines including medicine, physical therapy, nursing, exercise physiology and psychology, and has the greatest proportion of international members of any Assembly!

The PR Assembly is welcoming and inclusive. Within the Assembly the Early Career Professionals Working Group functions with the goal of promoting and facilitating the involvement of (relatively) junior ATS members (students, fellows, and junior faculty) in the PR Assembly, the PR community and the ATS as a whole.

More information on the activities of the PR Assembly or the PR Assembly Early Career Professionals Working Group can be found via the links.

The scientific focus of the Assembly on Respiratory Structure and Function is the integrated behavior of the respiratory system from the cell and molecular levels to the whole Individual, in health and disease. Our Early Career Working group is active in developing programs and resources that support our members through on of the most challenging career phases. Our activities span from the creation of "ECP Highlights" of the outstanding work that our members are doing, creating podcasts and infographics as guides, leading workshops and programming at the annual conference, utilizing social media and helping members to develop mentorship and leadership roles in ATS.

Interested in getting involved? Contact us!

Corrine Kliment, current ECP chair 

Sana Siddiqui, incoming chair

Dear Fellow/Trainee/ New ATS Member:

The Sleep and Respiratory Neurobiology (SRN) assembly would be delighted to have you as a new member! Here are some of the exciting opportunities our assembly has to offer:

• Join our highly active early career professional and web committees. These groups create and promote educational/editorial content through podcasts, social media, and other venues.
• Gain exposure to SRN through our Mentoring Program that pairs junior and senior SRN members and our Apprenticeship Program that prepares junior members to serve on our Planning or Program Committees.
• Visit our new blog, Sleep Matters, aimed at highlighting the latest news, events, and research from the sleep field. Interested in contributing content? Email Vaishnavi Kundel, MD and Luke Donovan, MD.
• Interested in co-facilitating any of the ATS-SRN thematic poster sessions? You can be paired with a senior mentor and serve as a co-facilitator for your clinical/research topic of choice!
• “Attend” and present at our Journal Club webinar, where high impact publications in the field of sleep medicine are presented and discussed with the authors and leaders in the field. Presenters may receive academic credit from their institutions for participation.
• Network with colleagues in your area of expertise at the SRN Membership Meeting and Reception scheduled the Monday evening at each International Conference. There, you can also learn key details about the structure of our Assembly and ATS as a whole.

We hope you will get involved with our exciting activities, and take advantage of the many opportunities that the SRN has to offer. Please email us at SRN@thoracic.org, if any questions or thoughts.

Lucas Donovan, MD, MS and Vaishnavi Kundel, MD
SRN Early Career Professional Working Group Chairs 

Mihaela Teodorescu, MD, MS
Chair, Assembly on SRN