PARTICIPATING SPEAKERS

Kenneth B. Adler, PhD, is a Professor in the Department of Molecular Biomedical Sciences, College Veterinary Medicine, at North Carolina State University. Dr. Adler has published over 120 papers, mostly in the area of airway inflammation and mucus secretion. His research focuses on elucidating pathogenic mechanisms associated with inflammation in the respiratory airways as seen in asthma, cystic fibrosis and chronic bronchitis.

Stephen A. Carey, DVM, PhD, is an Assistant Professor, Small Animal Internal Medicine, within the Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences and the Center for Integrative Toxicology, College of Veterinary Medicine, at Michigan State University. His research efforts involve investigation of the effects of air pollutants on the developing respiratory airways of children in order to understand why children appear to have a heightened susceptibility to lung or airway injury caused by common air pollutants including ozone, aeroallergens, and mycotoxins. He uses whole lung experimental studies and state-of-the-art techniques including 3-D airway modeling and injury mapping, computer-assisted morphometry, immunohistochemistry, and airway antioxidant analyses in his investigations.

Undine Christmann, PhD, Diplomate ACVIM (LAIM), is an assistant Professor in Equine Sports Medicine at the Center for Imaging and Research in Equine Locomotor Affections (CIRALE), Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d’Alfort. Dr Christmann’s PhD research focused on the role of lung surfactant in equine respiratory disease syndromes. Her current activities include cardiorespiratory workup of athletic horses and study of the innate immune response in race horses.

Eleanor C. Hawkins, DVM, DACVIM (SAIM), is a Professor of Internal Medicine, in the Department of Clinical Sciences, College Veterinary Medicine, at North Carolina State University. Her primary clinical interest is respiratory diseases of dogs and cats. Dr. Hawkins' research is concentrated on the study of chronic cough in dogs. Additional areas of study include the development of practical diagnostic tests, and the use of bronchoalveolar lavage to investigate drug disposition and immune function within the lung.

Robert Duncan Hite, MD, is a Professor and Section Head of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Allergy, and Immunologic Medicine, at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, Winston-Salem, NC. His clinical interests include general pulmonary diseases and respiratory critical care, with expertise in sepsis, surfactant deficiencies, quality of life, pulmonary hypertension, and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).

Melissa R. Mazan, DVM, DACVIM (LAIM), is an Associate Professor in the Department of Clinical Sciences and is also the Director of the Equine Sports Medicine Program at the Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, North Grafton, MA. Her primary research interests relate to the equine respiratory system, including: pathophysiology of small airway inflammatory disease, airway smooth muscle function, effects of particulate matter air pollution on equine respiratory disease, resting energy in horses with recurrent airway obstruction, and non-invasive lung function testing.

Ward Peterson, PhD, is Senior Vice President of Scientific Affairs at Inspire Pharmaceuticals. He has over twelve years of experience in biotech and pharmaceutical R&D. He has developed investigational therapies ranging from early discovery to Phase 3 clinical development in ophthalmic (retinitis pigmentosa, dry eye disease, and retinal detachment/edema) and respiratory (cystic fibrosis, sinusitis, asthma, and allergic rhinitis) therapeutic areas. He is an inventor on 14 U.S. patents and a registered patent agent.

Scott Pirie, BVM&S PhD Cert EM (Int Med) Cert EP Dip ECEIM MRCVS is a senior Lecturer in Equine Internal Medicine, at the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh. Dr. Pirie graduated (BVM&S) from the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies. He holds RCVS Certificates in both Equine Practice and Equine Medicine (Internal Medicine) and European Diploma in Equine Internal Medicine. He was awarded a PhD in 2002 for research in equine respiratory disease and he became an Associate of the Royal Agricultural Societies in 2006. His current post is Senior Lecturer in Equine Medicine and Head of Equine Medicine Unit. His clinical interests include equine respiratory and gastrointestinal medicine, while his research interests include equine lower airway inflammation and equine dysautonomia (grass sickness).

Judy Voynow, MD, is a Professor of Pediatrics and Chief of the Division of Pediatric Pulmonary and Sleep Medicine, at Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC. Dr. Voynow has been a faculty member at Duke since 1994. Her clinical interests include cystic fibrosis, asthma, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, recurrent pneumonia, and sleep medicine. Her basic research interests include the following areas: (1) mucin gene regulation in cystic fibrosis and chronic lung diseases; (2) airway epithelial intracellular signaling triggered by neutrophil elastase; (3) airway secretory cell remodeling, and (4) ozone induced oxidant signaling.