Day 2 Recap
“I have enjoyed all of the sessions and presentations. Such excellent questions from the community!” – An attendee from the National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
From the Desk of Miriam O’Day, President & C.E.O.
Day two of the conference kicked off with an enormous amount of hope as Dr. Brantly led us in a discussion of emerging therapies:
- The Research Panel addressed many interesting questions from our community. This session could last the entire length of the conference. We are grateful that many of our experts have made themselves available for chat sessions at the Foundation’s Booth. The Research Registry was discussed and viewers were invited to visit the Foundation’s Research Registry booth.
- Our keynote speaker Lorraine Ozerovitch helped everyone understand how to practice better pulmonary care and where to seek resources.
- The Pre and Post Transplant discussion featuring an exchange between a doctor (Marty Zamora, MD) and a patient (Fred Walsh) facilitated a discussion that answered so many questions that we hear often. This format was so successful we will consider more of these interactive exchanges in our summer series.
Our memorial service allowed us to honor and cherish the memories of those we have lost and reminds us how much work there is to be done for the Alpha-1 community.
Jonathan “Moneymaker” Maidment has been an inspiration to many as he hiked and raised awareness about Alpha-1. Today, Jonathan was in the “make a difference – get involved” networking lounge to discuss his next big adventure. One patient greeted him in the chat with simply “XOXO”. We need all of you to get involved and make a difference!
I hope you had an opportunity to visit our exhibit hall, our resource center and lounges. If you didn’t make it today be sure to do that tomorrow. There are so many rich resources to put into your briefcase and take away with you after leaving the platform.
The national conference is the jewel in the crown of the Foundation’s community support and education programs and one of the concerns that we had as we pivoted to a virtual conference was “will the participants feel connected and interact with each other and the sponsors, staff and presenters?” The answer is clear as over 3,000 chats took place over the past two days!
Thanks for making today a great day.
