Irina Petrache, MD, ATSF, Commences Term as President of the American Thoracic Society

Newswise — May 22, 2024 – Irina Petrache, MD, ATSF, today added president of the American Thoracic Society to her list of accomplishments. The announcement came on the heels of the Plenary Session at the ATS 2024 International Conference. The slate of officers to serve on the Society’s Executive Committee for the 2024-2025 term consists of the following:

• Irina Petrache, MD, ATSF, Incoming President

Dr. Petrache is professor of medicine at National Jewish Health and at the University of Colorado. She also serves as chief of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, associate vice president of Faculty Development, and Wollowick Chair in COPD Research at National Jewish Health. Dr. Petrache joined the ATS in 1997 and is a member of the Respiratory Cell & Molecular Biology Assembly. 

• Raed A. Dweik, MD, MBA, ATSF, President-Elect

Dr. Dweik currently holds the E. Tom and Erica Meyer Endowed Professorship and serves as chair of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine and enterprise chief of the Integrated Hospital Care Institute - IHI (Pulmonary, Critical Care, Infectious Disease, Emergency Services, Urgent and Express Care, Anesthesiology, Hospital Medicine, Perioperative Medicine) at Cleveland Clinic Health System. Dr. Dweik joined the ATS in 1994 and is a member of the Pulmonary Circulation Assembly. 

• Michelle Ng Gong, MD, MS, Secretary

Dr. Gong is currently professor and chief, Divisions of Pulmonary Medicine and of Critical Care Medicine, and director of Critical Care Research, Montefiore Medical Center and Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Dr. Gong joined the ATS in 1998 and is a member of the Critical Care Assembly. 

• Patricia Rivera, MD, ATSF, Immediate Past-President

Dr. Rivera is the C. Jane Davis & C. Robert Davis Distinguished Professor in Pulmonary Medicine, as well as chief, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center. She is also the Associate Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the Wilmot Cancer Center, adjunct professor of Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the co-director of the North Carolina Lung Screening Registry. Dr. Rivera originally founded the Multidisciplinary Lung Cancer Screening Program at UNC. Dr. Rivera joined the ATS in 1988 and is a member of the Thoracic Oncology Assembly.

• Jesse Roman, MD, ATSF, Treasurer

Dr. Roman is the Ludwig Kind Professor of Medicine and enterprise division chief, Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine. He also serves as CEO of the Jane & Leonard Korman Respiratory Institute of Jefferson Health and National Jewish Health.  Dr. Roman conducts NIH-sponsored research in lung tissue remodeling and is involved in clinical trials.  He joined the ATS in 1988 and is a member of the Respiratory Cell & Molecular Biology Assembly. 

Karen Collishaw, MPP, CAE, the Society’s chief executive officer, is the sixth member of the Executive Committee.

Each elected member of the Executive Committee, except for the Treasurer, currently serves a four-year term, culminating in their tenure as president in year three of their service. During their fourth year these individuals serve as immediate past-president. In addition to overseeing all aspects of ATS activities, the Executive Committee works collaboratively with the Board of Directors to formulate strategic priorities for the Society.  The Executive Committee also represents the Society with peer organizations.