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The Masters Series

Proceedings of the American Thoracic Society

In recent editions of PATS, we have developed a new form of symposium—the virtual symposium—in which the agenda is set according to the perceived educational needs of our members. We have been most gratified that our colleagues in industry have sponsored these symposia irrespective of topic. We greatly prize our Transatlantic, Pittsburgh Conference, and Lund Conference publications, which appear in PATS each year and support the notion that the content of these publications is outstanding science free of product promotion. We also recognize that some topics are so multidisciplinary that they are unlikely to be conceived for implementation by a single franchise or one sponsor alone.

The publication of the Masters Series is an example of a multidisciplinary symposium derived from two different American Thoracic Society (ATS)–sponsored conferences, and it is published through generous support from industry without prior knowledge of the topics to be covered. In celebration of the 100th anniversary of our society, three Nobel laureates made brilliant presentations at our annual meeting last May. We are extremely gratified that all three have agreed to submit a written transcript of their work. The topics do not necessarily reflect everyday activities of practicing pulmonologist/critical care physicians, nor are they necessarily the topics that we as respiratory scientists will use. Rather, these papers are three examples of the de novo conception of scientific thought and its progression throughout the decades. I have spent many hours reading these works, and I hope that our readers will find them as inspiring as I have.

The State-of-the-Art course conducted by Jesse Hall and Gregory Schmidt each year has grown in popularity, an unquestionable result of the continued excellence and careful preparation of the speakers. Our editors thought that bringing some of the very best lectures to PATS would bring them to the world. Accordingly, we selected the most highly rated lectures over the past two years, and 12 of our colleagues were able to prepare a rendition of their talks on short deadline. The program emphasized the basic need to disseminate information, and all of our contributors spent many hours preparing their work for publication without honoraria. Granted, the latter is a minor incentive for the effort required, but we work on tight budgets, and every little bit helps.

We are greatly indebted to the Nobel laureates, our esteemed guests at our last meeting, and to our members and friends who prepared the papers in the Masters Symposium. We intend to continue generating ATS-sponsored symposia, whether or not they are directly tied to a meeting, and we appreciate the recognition by our sponsors that this is a worthy venture. To do this, we need your continuous creative ideas and the continued generous support of our benefactors. Our goal is to present clinical and basic science at its highest level—a venture for us all.

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Leff, A. R. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Leff, A. R.