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Prof. Hilary Pinnock is the ERS Education Council Chair.
Hilary is a family physician and Professor of Primary Care Respiratory Medicine at the University of Edinburgh. Her research interests focus on delivery of care including implementing supported self-management for asthma, remote consulting and digital health for respiratory disease, pulmonary rehabilitation in low resource settings, and supportive care for people with severe COPD.
As ERS Education Council Chair, what are you most looking forward to about this year’s ERS Congress?
There is so much to look forward to at the ERS Congress! The symposia bring together global experts on the full range of respiratory disease – so I am looking forward to hearing authoritative talks, updating skills and knowledge and joining interesting conversations.
Of course, it is good to catch up with the latest science and I always enjoy wandering around the poster sessions chatting to authors about their work and exchanging ideas. Finally – and perhaps most importantly – the ERS Congress is an opportunity to catch up with old friends and create new networks.
What in your opinion will be the hot topics for primary care specialists at the ERS Congress 2024?
This year, the Congress theme is Man and machine: getting the balance right. I think this is a hot topic for all of us as we consider how to optimise the benefits of digital health in our clinical practice without losing the positive aspects of more traditional clinical care.
As a family doctor by background, I am looking forward to the primary care session on the Saturday morning (7 September, 09:30 CEST, C5 – live streamed) which is the first of a number of sessions on digital healthcare.
Several of the symposia address the potential of artificial intelligence and I shall look out for the themed abstract sessions on the latest evidence on digital respiratory healthcare. Children are not forgotten, with a Congress theme session on Sunday (8 September, 15:15 CEST, STRAUSS 3) focusing on the particular challenges of ‘Little humans and machines’.
Please tell us your top picks from the Congress programme and explain the reasons behind your choices?
Apart from the primary care sessions on Saturday, among the priorities in my Congress diary is the session on Tuesday afternoon on the global implementation of pulmonary rehabilitation (Tuesday 10 September, 13:45 CEST, C1 – live streamed). It is such an effective intervention but is not yet available in so much of the world, so it is good to hear about solutions to adapting pulmonary rehabilitation services to diverse contexts worldwide.
The Congress chairs session on Sunday afternoon (15:30 CEST, C1 – live streamed) picks up the Congress theme of Man and Machine: getting the balance right and should be a thought-provoking symposium.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
Don’t forget to check the programme of special sessions on Wednesday morning. This year’s Wednesday special programme (from 09:00 CEST, Wednesday 11 September) includes diverse and timely topics such as wildfire air pollution, lung health in childhood and the women’s networking brunch. I look forward to seeing you there!