Program:

Plenary Speakers

Prof. Atul C. Mehta (Lerner College of Medicine; Cleveland Clinic, Ohio, USA) Professor of Medicine, Lerner College of Medicine. Staff Physician, Respiratory Institute at Cleveland Clinic, Ohio. Dr. Mehta was the founder and president of the American Association for Bronchology and Senior Editor, Journal of Bronchology & Interventional Pulmonology. His research interests are diagnostic and therapeutic bronchoscopy and lung transplantation. He has published over 350 peer reviewed papers and over 75 book chapters. He’s edited 13 books and authored one, in the field of diagnostic and therapeutic bronchology.
Topics: Fleischner Society Guideline for the Peripheral Pulmonary Nodule



Prof. Barbara Phillips (University of Kentucky, College of Medicine, Lexington, Kentucky, USA)
Professor of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine at the University of Kentucky, College of Medicine, Lexington. Barbara established and directs the University of Kentucky Sleep Center and is a past-chairman of the National Sleep Foundation and the American Board of Sleep Medicine. She is current President and Regent at Large of the American College of Chest Physicians. Barbara has served on the boards of the American Lung Association, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, the Medical Advisory Board of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and the Advisory Board to the National Center on Sleep Disorders Research. She received a Sleep Academic Award from the National Institutes of Health and an Excellence in Education Award from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.
Topics: Commercial Drivers with Sleep Apnoea
The Overlap Syndrome: COPD with OSA


Prof. David Currow (CEO of the Cancer Institute of NSW; Professor at Flinders University (SA) and an Honorary Professor of Sydney University and the University of Technology, Sydney, NSW)
David’s career has been an exercise in commitment to improving the quality of care for people at the end of their lives. His impact is evident in policy and service development, research and teaching throughout Australia and the world. With more than 240 publications to his name, David was recently rated one of the top 10 most published palliative care researchers in the world.

Topic: Management of Dyspnoea in end-stage Lung Disease


Prof. James Paton (University of Adelaide, South Australia)
Director, Research Centre for Infectious Diseases, School of Molecular and Biomedical Science and NHMRC Senior Principal Research Fellow. Fellow to the Australian Academy of Science since 2013. For 35 years his research has been focused on the fundamental molecular events involved in the interactions between pathogenic bacteria and their hosts, with particular reference to Streptococcus pneumoniae. A leading proponent of protein-based pneumococcal vaccines. To date, he has published over 340 scientific papers and book chapters.

Topic: Pneumococcal Vaccine


Assoc. Prof. Geoffrey Strange (University of Notre Dame, Western Australia)
CEO of the Pulmonary Hypertension Society Australia and New Zealand Inc. Geoff has been involved in several start-up biotechnology companies. He has a background in clinical cardiology and has a special interest in pulmonary hypertension. Geoff has more than 40 professional publications to his name, including books, peer review publications and abstracts presented at international scientific meetings. He has also been a speaker at many international scientific meetings held around the world.

Topic: Insights from ANZ Pulmonary Hypertension Database and National Echocardiographic Data Analysis (NEDA) Study


Prof. Paul Reynolds (University of Adelaide, South Australia)
Clinical Director – Central Adelaide Local Health Network. Senior Respiratory and Sleep Consultant at the Royal Adelaide Hospital. Director – Basic and Translational Research Program, Lung Research Laboratory, Hanson Institute. Professor and NHMRC Practitioner Fellow, University of Adelaide. Past President of the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand (TSANZ). Highly accomplished researcher with interest in asthma, inflammation and pulmonary hypertension.

Topic: Gene Therapies in PAH


Dr Phan Nguyen (University of Adelaide, South Australia)
Head of The Thoracic Procedure Suite and Chair of The Lung Cancer Multi-Disciplinary Team at The Royal Adelaide Hospital. He regularly teaches at national IP courses as a faculty member, and internationally with the Sri Lankan College of Pulmonologists. He is a Fellow of the Asia Pacific Society of Respirology and Deputy Head of the Bronchoscopy and Interventional Techniques Assembly of the APSR.

Topic: Volume Reduction and Endobronchial Valves
Bronchial Thermoplasty


Assoc. Prof. Jamie Triccas (University of Sydney)
Associate Professor Jamie Triccas is head of the Microbial Immunity and Pathogenesis Group located in the Department of Infectious Diseases and Immunology at the University of Sydney. He is a graduate of the University of Sydney and also trained at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, France. His work is focused on determining how virulent bacteria promote disease, and developing novel strategies to prevent infection. Over the last 10 years he has focused his efforts on the development of new tuberculosis vaccines and drugs, and a number of these candidates are nearing clinical trials in humans.



Dr Amy Rigby (St Vincent’s Hospital, University of Sydney)
Dr Rigby trained in Respiratory and Lung Transplant medicine at the NSW state ECMO and transplant centres, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and St Vincent’s Hospital, having also completed an MPH in Italy exploring respiratory outbreaks and emerging pathogens in emergent humanitarian settings. She now works in both lung transplant and respiratory medicine at St Vincent’s hospital.



Prof. Robert Heddle (Adelaide University, SA)

Head of Clinical Immunology IMVS/RAH and Chief Pathologist, IMVS. Active in professional associations including roles as President of ASCIA, Specialty Advisory Board RACP, TSANZ Working Party on Omalizumab, ongoing roles as Convener of RCPA QAP in Allergy, Chairperson of SA IVIG Users’ Group, and active roles in ASCIA Anaphylaxis Working Party, ASCIA Insect Allergy Working Party and MAC for Asthma SA.
Topic: Respiratory Allergy and Anaphylaxis Update


Dr John Feenstra (Griffith and Bound Universities, Queensland)

Director of the Wesley Pulmonary Hypertension Unit. The academic lead for Medicine at the Wesley and St Andrews Clinical Schools. He holds the academic position of Senior Lecturer with Griffith and Bond Universities. Dr Feenstra is currently involved in clinical trials in the areas of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pulmonary arterial hypertension, obstructive sleep apnoea, insomnia and scleroderma related digital ulcers.
Topic: Genetic testing and counselling in PAH


Prof. Eli Gabbay (University of Notre Dame, WA)

Professor of Respiratory Medicine and Chair of Research at The University of Notre Dame Medical School. Clinical Professor at The University of Western Australia Medical School and Associate Professor at Curtin University School of Physiotherapy. Head of the Advanced Lung Disease and Pulmonary Vascular Unit at the Institute for Respiratory Health. Professor Gabbay was an inaugural board member of the PHSANZ, (Pulmonary Hypertension Society of Australia and New Zealand) and has served as a chair of the Australian Lung Foundation Expert Committee on management of Pulmonary Hypertension.
Topic: Treatment Strategies in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension


Prof. Christine McDonald (University of Melbourne, Victoria)

Director, Department of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine, and Chief Executive Officer, Institute for Breathing and Sleep, Austin Health, Heidelberg, Victoria. Research interests include non-pharmacological management of chronic lung diseases including COPD, interstitial lung diseases and lung cancer. Christine is Chair of the COPD Coordinating Committee and member of the COPD Guidelines Committee, Lung Foundation Australia and lead author of the TSANZ Position Paper on Provision of Adult Domiciliary Oxygen Therapy.
Topic: COPD Phenotypes


Assoc. Prof. Geraint Rogers (SAHMRI & Flinders University, Adelaide, SA)

Director of Microbiome Research at the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) Infection and Immunity Theme, and Associate Professor at the Flinders School of Medicine. Co-Convenor of the TSANZ Respiratory Infectious Disease Special Interest Group, Associate Editor of the Journal of Cystic Fibrosis. He has a longstanding research focus on complex microbial systems in chronic lung diseases, with present research activities centring on the use of microbiota profiling to personalise therapy.
Topic: The Airway Microbiome – Implications for COPD


Prof A. Simon Carney (Flinders University, South Australia)

Professor of ENT Surgery at Flinders University and was awarded his Doctorate for pioneering research into molecular changes in the nasal mucosa that precede the development of “hay-fever”. Between 2007 and 2011 he chaired the Flinders Clinical Research Ethics Committee and from 2005 to 2013 he was Head of the ENT Unit at FMC. He has written over 150 book chapters and publications in scientific journals and has been a faculty member at over 100 national and international meetings.
Topic: Surgical Therapies for Snoring and Sleep Apnoea


Dr Subash Heraganahally (Charles Darwin University, NT)

Director, Department of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine, Royal Darwin Hospital. Director of Darwin Respiratory and Sleep Health Service. Lecturer at Flinders University in Adelaide, the NT Medical School, Charles Darwin University/Royal Darwin Hospital.
Topic: COPD and Bronchiectasis in Indigenous Australians


Assoc. Prof. Hubertus Jersmann (Adelaide University, SA)

Senior Respiratory and Sleep Consultant at the Royal Adelaide Hospital with interest in interventional pulmonology. Teaching coordinator for Respiratory Medicine at the University of Adelaide.
Topic: Advanced Interventional Techniques in Pulmonology


Prof. Nikolai Petrovsky (Flinders University, SA)

Professor of Medicine at Flinders University of South Australia. Director of Endocrinology at Flinders Medical Centre. Founder and Research Director of Vaxine Pty Ltd. Secretary-General of the International Immunomics Society. Main areas of research interest: immunoinformatics, vaccinology and autoimmune diseases. Active in translational research taking four novel vaccines from the lab to human clinical trials, including the world’s first recombinant H1N1/2009 pandemic vaccine.
Topic: Prevention Strategies in Pandemic Influenza


Assoc. Prof. Chris Karapetis (Flinders University, South Australia)
Director of Clinical Research / Senior Consultant Medical Oncologist at Flinders Medical Centre. Extensive clinical experience and research interest in thoracic oncology.
Topic: Targeted Treatments for Lung Cancer


Dr Anand Rose (Flinders University, South Australia)
Senior Consultant, Department of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine, Southern Adelaide Local Health Network. Senior Lecturer at Flinders University. Special interest in interventional pulmonology, thoracic ultrasound and pulmonary thromboembolic disease.
Topic: Pleural Catheters and Ultrasound


Dr Dimitar Sajkov (Flinders University, South Australia)
Founding Director of the Australian Respiratory and Sleep Medicine Institute (ARASMI). CHEST Global Governor for Australia. Director of Southern Sleep service in Adelaide. Senior Consultant, Department of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine, Southern Adelaide Local Health Network. Senior Lecturer at Flinders University. Wide research interest, including pulmonary hypertension, COPD, sleep apnoea and respiratory vaccines.
Topic: Cardiovascular Complications of Sleep Apnoea


Dr Jason D’Costa (Flinders University, SA)

Senior Consultant, Department of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine, Southern Adelaide Local Health Network. Senior Lecturer at Flinders University. Research interest includes pulmonary fibrosis, interventional pulmonology and EBUS.
Topic: New Treatments for Pulmonary Fibrosis


Dr Anthony Smith (Flinders University, SA)

Head of Clinical Immunology and Allergy at Flinders Medical Centre. Clinical and research interests include food, respiratory, venom and drug allergies, in addition to primary immunodeficiency disorders and systemic autoimmune disorders. His PhD studies to discover an autoantibody in Narcolepsy were supported by Sleep Physicians across the Southern Adelaide Health Region.
Topic: Asthma Immunotherapy works


Dr Jeff Bowden (Flinders University, SA)

Director, Department of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine, Southern Adelaide Local Health Network (Inc. Flinders Medical Centre); Senior Lecturer at Flinders University. Medical Director at the Australian Respiratory and Sleep Medicine Institute (ARASMI). Renowned speaker and educator.
Topic: Racial Differences in Selection of Therapies for Lung Cancer


Mr Leslie Jamieson (Adelaide Accounting Services Pty Ltd, South Australia)
Chartered accountant and Director of Adelaide Accounting Services. Extensive experience in planning and running specialist medical practises and taxation planning. Past experience in Australian Treasury, ATO auditor and accountancy consulting.
Topic: How to Start and Run Private Respiratory Practice