Your Lungs for Life: Domains of lifelong lung health

One in 13 Australians over the age of 40 has COPD, with hundreds of thousands more experiencing symptoms in the absence of a formal diagnosis. Evidence around the contributing and predicting factors of COPD from birth to adulthood continues to emerge, shifting our sense of what can be done to support lifelong lung health. We are born with only one set of lungs, understanding the impact of what happens to them from conception onwards has never been more important. This World COPD Day, join us for a special three-part virtual learning event to mark the 2022 theme: Your Lungs for Life. Our panel, including four of Australia’s leading experts in COPD, will discuss three critical touchpoints in the lifetime trajectory, including:

Lung function across the life course
Professor Shyamali Dharmage will discuss her recently published work around the link between obstructive and restrictive spirometry patterns from early in life to middle age and the development of COPD.

Occupational exposure: The forgotten cohort
Whose cough do we care about? Conjoint Professor Deborah Yates will discuss the significance of taking an occupational history in COPD case-finding, practical tips for maximising consultation time in primary care, and a dust exposure case vignette.

Quality of life at every stage: Palliative care in COPD
Associate Professor Natasha Smallwood will discuss recognising symptoms and palliative care needs of patients, the role of early palliative care together with disease directed management, and approaches to managing severe breathlessness.

Ask the panel your questions at registration, or live on the night. A dedicated Q&A segment will be hosted by Ms Samantha Nolan-Neylan, Respiratory Nurse. The session will be recorded and available on-demand for those unable to attend live.

Speakers:

Professor Shyamali Dharmage

Head of the Allergy and Lung Health Unit/Deputy Director (Research)
University of Melbourne/Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics

Professor Shyamali Dharmage (MBBS, MSc, MD, PhD, FERS, FThorSoc) is a world-recognised leader in Life Course Epidemiology of Chronic Respiratory Diseases. She developed and leads the Allergy & Lung Health Unit, Centre for Epidemiology & Biostatistics, University of Melbourne and has been awarded the esteemed titles of Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor, Fellow of the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand, Fellow of the European Respiratory Society, Fellow of the College of Community Physicians of Sri Lanka Fellow and Dame Kate Campbell Fellow. Professor Dharmage has more than 500 publications and has been awarded more than $75 million in grants over her illustrious research career. Professor Dharmage is custodian and Principal Investigator of the Tasmanian Longitudinal Health Study (TAHS), one of the world’s largest and longest running studies on respiratory health. TAHS research on lung function trajectories and COPD risk created the paradigm of early origins of COPD, informed multiple international clinical guidelines and led to a new field of research (pre-COPD).

Conjoint Professor Deborah Yates

Senior Staff Specialist
St Vincent’s Public Hospital | UNSW | Holdsworth House Medical Practice

Conjoint Professor Deborah Yates is a respiratory physician with longstanding special clinical & research interests in occupational lung disease. She trained in Medicine in the UK and completed her Masters on asbestos-related disease and her doctorate on asthma and fractional exhaled nitric oxide. She currently works as a senior staff specialist at St Vincent’s Public Hospital/UNSW and at Holdsworth House Medical Practice in Darlinghurst, Sydney and is involved in several educational, advocacy and research endeavours.

Associate Professor Natasha Smallwood

Consultant Respiratory Physician | Head of the Chronic Respiratory Disease laboratory
Alfred Hospital, Melbourne | Central Clinical School, Monash University

A/Prof Natasha Smallwood is a respiratory physician at the Alfred Hospital, Head of the Chronic Respiratory Disease Research Lab at the Central Clinical School (Monash university) and principalresearch fellow at Monash University. In addition to her respiratory qualifications, she holdspostgraduate qualifications in epidemiology, palliative care and medical leadership.

A/Prof Smallwood has authored over 90 publications and holds various major research grants includinga NHMRC Investigator grant and fellowship research grant from the Windermere foundation. She hasclinical and research interests in breathlessness and severe lung disease. A/Prof Smallwood alsoestablished and leads a specialist integrated respiratory and palliative care clinical service. She is alsopassionate about gender equality and health leadership.

A/Prof Smallwood serves as a Board Director for the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand(TSANZ) and the Victorian Doctors Health Program. She is the past president of the Victorian TSANZbranch and has leadership roles on multiple national committees for TSANZ, the Lung Foundation Australia and the Palliative Care Clinical Studies Collaborative. Additionally, she is a taskforce member for various national and international respiratory guidelines.

Facilitated by Mrs Samantha Nolan-Neylan

Respiratory Nurse Practitioner
Gold Coast University Hospital

Samantha is currently working as a Respiratory Nurse Practitioner at the Gold Coast University Hospital where she has developed specialised asthma clinics including the use of injectable biologics for patients with severe asthma. Samantha has been a Registered Nurse for over 30 years and has a strong commitment to empower both clinicians and patients in better and effective management of chronic respiratory conditions. She has had the opportunity to work in a variety of community and acute care roles both in Australia and overseas including community projects in Nauru, Romania and inland Queensland.