May 18, 2021 – Today the annual Membership Meeting, the slate of officers to serve on the American Thoracic Society’s Executive Committee for the 2021-2022 term were approved by the membership. Effective immediately, the full make-up of the Executive Committee will consist of the following:
- Lynn Schnapp, MD, ATSF, President
- Schnapp is the George R. and Elaine Love professor and chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. She is a faculty member in the division of Allergy, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine.
- Gregory Downey, MD, ATSF, Incoming President
- Downey is a professor of medicine, pediatrics, and biomedical research at National Jewish Health where he also serves as executive vice president of Academic Affairs, and provost. He is also professor of medicine and immunology and microbiology and associate dean of the School of Medicine, at the University of Colorado in Denver.
- Juan C. Celedón, MD, DrPH, ATSF, Immediate Past President
- Celedón is the Niels K. Jerne Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine, and chief of the Division of Pediatric Pulmonary Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
- Patricia Rivera, MD, ATSF, Vice President
- Rivera is a professor of medicine in the Division of Pulmonary Diseases and Critical Care Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
- Irina Petrache, MD, ATSF, Secretary-Treasurer
- Petrache is a professor of medicine at National Jewish Health, where she has served as the chief of the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine since 2015. She also holds an appointment as professor in the Department of Medicine and the Pharmacology Graduate Program, University of Colorado, Denver.
Karen Collishaw, MPP, CAE, the Society’s Chief Executive Officer, is the sixth member of the Executive Committee.
Looking ahead to the coming year, Dr. Schnapp, ATS President, said, “As I look at the year we just experienced with COVID, and what’s to come, we actually have some very unique opportunities ahead of us. As heartbreaking and difficult as the past year has been, it has enabled us to rethink our future in dramatically different ways. Leveraging new learning methods and technologies will make it easier than ever for us to experiment and collaborate, to share new ideas, to reshape the future of respiratory health, and, by extension, the ATS.”
Each elected member of the Executive Committee currently serves a term of five years, culminating in their tenure as president in year four of their service. During their fifth year these individuals serve as immediate past president. In addition to overseeing all aspects of ATS activities the Executive Committee represents the Society with peer organizations and formulates strategic priorities which are then shared with the full Board of Directors for consideration.
