ATS Leadership

Dean E. Schraufnagel, M.D., professor of medicine and pathology and program director in the Section of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Sleep and Allergy at the University of Illinois at Chicago, became president of the Society, succeeding J. Randall Curtis, M.D., M.P.H.

“I would like to help our members and see how the ATS can give them opportunities they might not otherwise have,” said Dr. Schraufnagel, who also serves as attending physician at UIC and VA Medical Centers and the Chicago Tuberculosis Clinics.

During his presidency, Dr. Schraufnagel hopes to do this through programs that increase member involvement and networking. “I believe the ATS can give its members the tools to do their jobs better so that they then can help carry out our common mission,” he explained.

Dr. Schraufnagel earned his medical degree from the University of Wisconsin, Madison and trained at the University of Illinois and McGill University in Montreal. His research interests include pulmonary microcirculation, mycobacterial disease, scleroderma lung disease, and sickle cell lung disease. He is the editor of the Society’s new book, Breathing in America, Diseases, Progress and Hope. The book, which is a major part of the ATS’s contribution to the “Year of the Lung” campaign, can be accessed by visiting www.thoracic.org/education/breathing-in-america. It will be published as a print volume this summer.

An ATS member since 1976, Dr. Schraufnagel has chaired the Society’s Audit and Finance Committee. He has also served as editor of the ATS Web site, chair of the Web Editorial Board, chair of the Program and Budget Committee, and as a member of the Council of Chapter Representatives, the Task Force on Clinicians and the Communications and Marketing, Information Systems, Membership, Members In Transition and Training, Nominating, Publications Policy and Revenue Development Committees.

Nicholas S. Hill, M.D., was installed as president-elect. He will serve as ATS president from 2011 to 2012. Dr. Hill is professor of medicine at Tufts University, adjunct professor of medicine at Brown Medical School and chief of the Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Division at Tufts Medical Center in Boston. An active clinician, he directs the Pulmonary Hypertension Center at Tufts, as well as the Outpatient Pulmonary Rehabilitation Program at New England Sinai Rehabilitation Center. His research interests include pulmonary vascular biology, clinical pulmonary hypertension and non-invasive ventilation.

Dr. Hill is currently chairs of the Society’s Audit and Finance Committee. Since joining the ATS in 1977, he has served on the Society’s Program and Budget Committee and Planning Committee. He has also been active in the Assemblies on Pulmonary Circulation and Critical Care, serving as International Meeting Program Chair for both, and has been a member of the Strategic Planning Committee, Council of Chapter Representatives and the editorial board of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

Monica Kraft, M.D., was installed as vice-president. She will serve as ATS president in 2012 to 2013. Dr. Kraft is professor of medicine and founding director of the Asthma, Allergy and Airway Center at Duke University Medical Center, where she also serves as vice-chair of research in the Department of Medicine. Her research interests include the mechanisms of inflammation and remodeling in asthma, with an emphasis on the role of infection and innate immunity in these processes. Her work has been continually funded since fellowship by the National Institutes of Health, American Lung Association and Francis Families Foundation.

Dr. Kraft chairs the Society’s Program and Budget Committee and is a member of the Membership and Audit and Finance Committees. Since joining the ATS in 1993, she has chaired the Society’s International Conference Committee, and served on the Membership, Clinicians Advisory, Awards and Research Advocacy Committees. She has also been active in the Assembly on Allergy, Immunology and Inflammation.

Patricia W. Finn, M.D., was elected by the ATS membership as secretary-treasurer and will serve as ATS president from 2013 to 2014. Dr. Finn is director of the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the University of California, San Diego, where she also serves as Kenneth M. Moser Professor of Medicine. She is an active clinician, researcher and educator whose research has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health and the American Lung Association since fellowship. Her research explores immune-mediated pulmonary disorders, including asthma, transplantation and acute lung injury.

An ATS member since 1994, Dr. Finn has been active in the Assembly on Allergy, Immunology and Inflammation, having served as assembly chair and chair of its Nominating and Program Committees. She has also served on the ATS Scientific Advisory, Long Range Planning, Awards and Research Advocacy Committees, as well as associate editor of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

ATS immediate-past president J. Randall Curtis, M.D., M.P.H., is professor of medicine in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care at the University of Washington and head of the Section of Pulmonary and Critical Care at Harborview Medical Center. He conducts clinical research focused on assessing and improving end-of-life care in the ICU and for patients with chronic lung disease. An ATS member since 1992, Dr. Curtis has chaired the ATS International Conference, Program and Budget and Audit and Finance Committees, as well as the Assembly on Behavioral Science. He has also been a member of the Web Editorial Board, and the Communications and Marketing, Membership, Awards, Strategic Planning, Health Policy and Drug/Device Discovery and Development Committees.