The Pittsburgh International Lung Conference is an educational conference which aims to increase awareness of the medical and scientific advances in treating and understanding lung disease.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Pittsburgh International Lung Conference (PILC).  The meeting was first launched by Dr. Augustine Choi, then Division Chief of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and it quickly became a leading meeting in the field. With a focus on the presentation of cutting edge topics in clinical, translational, and basic research, the PILC brings together leaders from institutions across the country and internationally to participate in scientific discussion, foster collaboration, and develop the next generation of pulmonary scientists.

This year’s conference, “Metabolism and the Lung: Homeostasis, Immunity, and Disease” will  focus on new insights on the critical role of the metabolism of the cells, tissues, and the microenvironment in a wide range of lung diseases. Our program will feature local and international experts in the fields of metabolomics, vascular biology, epithelial biology, microbiology, and immunology who have made fundamental discoveries in the metabolic basis of lung disease. The invited faculty will showcase senior leaders as well as rising stars who will shape pulmonary medicine in the years to come.  Our program includes open time during meals and our poster session to provide an exceptional environment for networking and in-depth conversations with peers and leaders in attendance. Each oral presentation will end with an opportunity for questions and further interaction among participants, and each day will include a short session of Rapid Fire presentations selected from submitted conference abstracts.

We are pleased to welcome colleagues and leaders from multiple partner institutions including the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, the University of Pennsylvania, and many others. The presentations and discussions of science and medicine promise to be of the highest caliber.  In addition, we look forward to including Panelists from the Journal of Clinical Investigation and the American Society for Clinical Investigation for a discussion about Changing Patterns of Publications and Its Impact on Academic Success.

Several special activities are planned to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the PILC, and we are pleased to honor Dr. Augustine Choi, Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean of Weill Cornell Medicine and Provost for Medical Affairs at Cornell University as our keynote dinner speaker.

A call for abstracts portal will open on this site in spring, and space is limited. Please visit the conference website for updates as they become available.

We look forward to your participation in the conference. 

Course Directors:
Alison Morris, MD, MS
Janet S. Lee, MD
Tomeka Suber, MD, PhD