2025 ATS International Trainee & MECOR Program Scholarships (ITS)

We sincerely thank the incredible researchers who submitted over 800 outstanding abstract applications for the 2025 International Travel Scholarship Award! Your dedication and innovative contributions to the field continue to inspire us.

While we wish we could support every applicant, we had only 39 spots available this year. To those selected, we celebrate your achievement and look forward to seeing your impactful research take center stage. To all who applied, thank you for your passion and commitment to advancing science—your work is invaluable, and we encourage you to continue pushing boundaries.

We invite all applicants and attendees to join us at the International Colloquium session on Saturday, May 17, from 8:00 AM to 1:30 PM. This will be a fantastic opportunity to engage with groundbreaking research and connect with fellow experts. Each awardee will have 3 minutes to present their work, followed by a brief Q&A session.

We can't wait to see you all at the 2025 conference!

2025 Recipients by Assembly

Allergy, Immunology and Inflammation (AII)

• The Role of Ferroptosis and Its Inhibition in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
  Silke Geirnaert, MHS (Belgium)
• Pleural Cavity-resident B Cells And Macrophages Form Immune Scaffolds On The Lung Surface In Response To Bacterial Stimuli
  Sumiha Karunagaran, BSc (Canada)
• Perinatal Obesity Is Associated With Childhood Asthma via IL-6 Trans-Signaling and Premature Aging of Respiratory Epithelial Cells
  Tobias Trojan, MD (Germany)

Behavioral Science & Health Services Research (BSHSR)

• Assessment Of Global Initiative For Asthma (GINA)-defined Asthma Control: Comparative Effectiveness Of Four Questionnaires
  Feyisara Macbeth Kehinde, MBChB (Nigeria)
• Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Diagnosis And Management Are Below Standards In Ethiopia: A Qualitative Study
  Mulugeta Tamire, PhD (Ethiopia)

Environmental, Occupational and Population Health (EOPH)

• Interventions to Prevent Vaping Initiation and to Support Vaping Cessation
  Samantha Filby, MSocSci Economic Development (South Africa)
• Incidence of Adult-diagnosed Asthma in Relation to Obesity and Weight Change: An 8-year Longitudinal Study
  Reshed Abohalaka, BPharm, MSc, PhD (Sweden)

Clinical Problems (CP)

• Agreement of One-minute Sit-to-Stand Test With Six-minute Walk Test in Interstitial Lung Disease Patients
  Akshaya Moorthy, MBBS, MD (India)
• A Malignant Long-term Outcome in Anti-synthetase Syndrome
  Alejandra Cruz De La Paz, MD (Mexico)
• Management of Massive Hemoptysis Through Bronchoscopy in a Remote Region of Nepal: A Case Report
  Anusmriti Pal, MBBS, BMic, MD (IM), FPCCM (Nepal)
• Impulse Oscillometry as a Diagnostic Tool for Small Airway Disease in Patients With HIV Infection: Defining Cut-Offs and Clinical Characteristics
  Ilgim Vardaloglu Koyuncu, MD (Turkey)
• Hemoglobin Variant With Discordance Between SpO₂ and SaO₂
  Shawn Foo, Bachelor of Nursing (Malaysia)
• Methotrexate Versus Prednisone As First-line Treatment For Pulmonary Sarcoidosis: The Predmeth Trial
  Vivienne Kahlmann, MD (Netherlands)
• The Respiratory Mycobiome Dynamic Is Associated With 3-Year Mortality In Severe COPD Patients During Exacerbation
  Xiaofang Su, MD (China)
• A Baseline HRCT Deep Textural Analysis Fibrosis Score of ≥ 10% in RA-ILD Is Associated With an Increased Risk of All-cause Mortality
  Michelle Kam, MBBS, MRCP(UK) (Singapore)

Critical Care (CC)

• Upregulation of the NAIP/NLRC4 Inflammasome and Dysregulation of the IL-18 Axis in Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome
  Luke Flower, MBChB (United Kingdom)
• High Flow Nasal Oxygen Therapy Versus Non-invasive Ventilation For Prevention Of Reintubation - HYPERHOT NIV Trial
  Muniza Bai, MD Pulmonary Medicine (India)
• Global Burden Of Mechanical Ventilation (GEMINI Study): An Epidemiological And Geo-economic Modelling Study
  Oscar Penuelas, MD, PhD (Spain)

Nursing (NUR)

• Feasibility, Acceptability and Preliminary Efficacy of an Asthma Management Intervention for Children and Parents
  Xu Wang, PhD in Nursing (China)

Pediatrics (PEDS)

• Clinical Utility of Bronchoalveolar Lavage in Oncology Patients at a Pediatric Hospital in Bogota, Colombia
  Alonso Rafael Echavez Agudelo, MD (Colombia)
• Childhood Asthma Trajectories Across Eleven Danish Birth Cohorts: Predictors of Asthma Remission and Persistence - A Nationwide DAIRE Study
  Andreas Vollmond, B.Sc in Medicine (Denmark)

Pulmonary Infections and Tuberculosis (PI-TB)

• Long-term Protective Effect Of 13-Valent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine Against Experimental Carriage Following Rechallenge
  Anthony Emeritus Chirwa, MD (Malawi)
• The Association of Pretreatment Nutritional Status With Lung Function After Microbiologic Tuberculosis Cure
  Edwin Nuwagira, MBChB (Uganda)
• 12-month Respiratory Outcomes in Children and Adolescents Treated for Pulmonary Tuberculosis
  Esin Nkereuwem, MD MSc (Gambia)
• Neuropsychiatric Side Effects Of DR-TB Patients Receiving BPaL/BPaLM Regimen: A Retrospective Study
  M Prasetio Wardoyo, MD (Indonesia)
• A 15-year Retrospective Analysis Of Tuberculosis Patients At A Public-private Matrix TB DOTS Center
  Mark Steven Pempengco, MD (Philippines)
• The Minimum Inhibitory Concentration, Antibiotic Resistance of Common Bacteria and Short Outcomes in Hospital-acquired Pneumoniae
  Phung Nguyen, MSc, MD (Vietnam)

Pulmonary Rehabilitation (PR)

• High-intensity Inspiratory Muscle Training In Patients With Pulmonary Hypertension: Randomized Clinical Trial
  Fabricio Fontoura, Prof Dr (Brazil)
• Effects of Creatine Supplementation on Fatigue Related to Long COVID - Fatigue Study
  Robson Prudente, PT, PhD (Brazil)
• Balance Training In Patients With COPD: A Systematic Review And Meta-analysis
  Walter Sepulveda Loyola, PhD (Chile)

Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology (RCMB)

• Mechanistic Role Of Complement Cascade In Pre-Metastatic Niche Establishment Through The Induction Of Epithelial-To-Mesenchymal Transition By Circulating Extracellular Vesicles In Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM)
  Amina Jouida, PhD (Ireland)
• Oxidized Mitochondrial DNA as an Endogenous Factor in Acute Exacerbation of Pulmonary Fibrosis
  Yoshiki Ikeyama, MD (Japan)

Thoracic Oncology (TO)

• Identifying Risk Factors For Lung Cancer In Never-smokers: A Case-control Study
  Hyun Seok Kwak, MD (Korea, Republic of)
• Growth and Clinical Outcomes of Screen-detected Pulmonary Subsolid Nodules After 5 Years of Stability
  So Yeon Kim, MD (Korea, Republic of)