ATS Breathe Easy

As 2025 comes to a close, the ATS Breathe Easy podcast is highlighting one of our most important episodes of the year on the importance of environmental justice, both for the quality of our air and for the quality of life of future generations. Erika Moseson, MD, of the Air Health Our Heath podcast hosts this week's episode with guest Daniel Croft, MD, MPH, ATSF. Dr. Croft is associate professor in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine and the Department of Environmental Medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center. On this episode we share insights from the Climate Change and Respiratory Health: Opportunities to Contribute to Environmental Justice: An Official American Thoracic Society Workshop Report: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40311081/ For additional discussion on environmental health, please also view our recent Breathe Easy episode “EPA Rollbacks Spell Grave Impacts on Public Health” for an up-to-date discussion of current national changes related to health care, environmental health and environmental justice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51ZzGPj8UF4 For more on what you can do in your community, listen to the Air Health Our Health episode "Bypass Toxic Politics" with Dr Anthony Gerber of the American Thoracic Society Environmental Health Policy Committee: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/airhealthourhealth/episodes/Bypass-Toxic-Politics--Dr-Gerber-on-Local-and-State-Action-for-Healthy-Air-and-Communities-e2tug4n/a-abobsm0 

 Endotrachael intubation is a highly important critical care procedure, and as such, clinicians are working to improve the procedure to ensure the best patient outcomes. As Stephanie DeMasi, MD, MS, assistant professor of emergency medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, goes through the detailed review she wrote, along with her colleagues, on different evidence-based decisions clinicians face when intubating a patient, with host Eddie Qian, MD, Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Read Dr. DeMasi's paper, "Evidence-based Emergency Tracheal Intubation": https://www.atsjournals.org/doi/10.1164/rccm.202411-2165CI 

 Lung cancer is commonly associated with smoking. However, among people diagnosed with lung cancer, the proportion who have never smoked has been increasing, and there are many reasons why a person who has never smoked may develop this disease. Lori Sakoda, PhD, MPH, ATSF, a research scientist and epidemiologist at Kaiser Permanente Northern California, explains what factors may come into play, what the ongoing research shows, and what knowledge gaps exist on this topic. Patti Tripathi hosts. 

The lung Composite Allocation Score (CAS) was implemented in 2023, and has shown to increase lung transplant rates and lower waitlist mortality. Host Alice Gallo de Moraes, MD, of the Mayo Clinic, interviews experts Mary Raddawi, MD, of Columbia University Irving Medical Center, and Amy Skiba, of the Lung Transplant Foundation, on the importance of CAS and how it has changed outcomes for lung transplant patients. 

 This Giving Tuesday, we have a special episode of the ATS Breathe Easy podcast. Wildfires are a destructive phenomenon that decimates communities, infrastructure, and wildlife. But wildfires and wildfire smoke are also severely damaging to human health, especially for those who have lung disease. Stacie Reveles, of the Cystic Fibrosis Research Institute, talks about her struggles living in wildfire country with a child who has cystic fibrosis. She discusses everything from dealing with medications and evacuations, the mental toll, and the importance of continued research into these illnesses. Air Health Our Health podcast creator Erika Moseson, MD, MA, of Legacy Health in Oregon hosts. Donate to the ATS Research Program today to help families like Stacie's: https://aeugmntn.donorsupport.co/page/Stacie The ATS Wildfire Disaster Guidance sheet: https://www.thoracic.org/patients/patient-resources/resources/wildfires.pdf  Listen to the Our Health in Wildfire Season episode of Air Health Our Health for how to prepare your home and community: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/airhealthourhealth/episodes/Our-Health-in-Wildfire-Season-e162en9/a-a2ata11