PRESS RELEASE
American Thoracic Society Launches a Video Series
CHICAGO, January 11, 2022 — The American Thoracic Society has launched a 16-episode, video series called “Helping the World Breathe.” Presented and voiced by Emmy Award Winning Randall Pinkston (CBS News), the video series showcase how innovation in education, research, and patient care can lead to improved patient outcomes. Three Lakes Foundation provided funding to develop two of the videos in the series.
“Helping the World Breathe” shines a light on key issues facing the respiratory health community, including diversity, access to care, and multidisciplinary collaboration. It also aims to draw awareness to innovative, multidisciplinary partnerships and advancing technology to develop treatments for patients with lung disease.
In this series, leading respiratory health specialists from around the world discuss how bringing together sub-specialties with diverse perspectives and tailored rigorous clinical training help shape a culture of collaboration, which in turn may improve access to care and reduce long-standing health inequalities.
This video highlights the initiatives that the University of Michigan is executing to address the respiratory needs of patients and their families. Researchers in this video discuss:
The groundbreaking research in oxygen assessment that is breaking down barriers to healthcare inequalities
Partnering with startup companies to test a unique delivery and ventilation system for home use, such as the first portable multi-function ventilator, combining ventilation, oxygen, and drug delivery in one device
The use of innovative diagnostic imaging technologies — parametric response mapping — that is now being applied to patients across the globe
Researchers interviewed in this video:
Meilan Han, MD, Professor of Medicine in the Division of Pulmonary & Critical Care
Michael Sjoding, MD, Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine University of Michigan
Philip Choi, MD, Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine
This video showcases the reasons behind the innovation in pulmonary research by researchers at the Yale School of Medicine— the opportunity to make an impact for patients with pulmonary fibrosis.
The video begins with a touching story of Art Kirshenbaum who lost both his wife and son to idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Their deaths highlight the frustrations of patients and families — the lack of awareness and the need for funding to fight the disease. With patients foremost on their minds, researchers at Yale are leading the way not only for patients, but also for other researchers, such as:
Building and publishing the first single-cell atlas for pulmonary fibrosis. This atlas, which was funded by Three Lakes Foundation, provides a cellular blueprint of the human lung to increase understanding of pulmonary fibrosis. Through high resolution mapping, Yale researchers have created a dataset that could lead to discoveries of new cell types and potentially new therapies. Currently there have been around 20 new discoveries since the atlas was introduced to the public in the Spring of 2021.
Thought leaders included in this video:
Naftali Kaminski, MD, Section Chief, Pulmonary Critical Care & Sleep Medicine, Yale School of Medicine
Danielle Antin-Ozerkis, MD, Medical Director, ILD Center
About Three Lakes Foundation Three Lakes Foundation (TLF) is a nonprofit dedicated to serving as a catalyst for uniting research, industries, and philanthropy in pulmonary fibrosis. We connect entrepreneurs, advocates and institutions to an innovation ecosystem that will transform our approach to improve time to diagnosis and accelerate new therapies. To learn more, visit threelakesfoundation.org.
