From October 5 - 9, young scientists and clinicians from around the world had the opportunity to gain hands-on experience on recent developments in lung biology and disease research at the interface of basic sciences and clinical medicine. The Munich International Autumn School (MIAS) was held for the third time at the Comprehensive Pneumology Center (CPC) and organized by “AtemWeg – Stiftung zur Erforschung von Lungenkrankheiten” and the Research School "Lung Biology and Disease", with further support by "The Linde Group" and "Boehringer Ingelheim". The training program consisted of outstanding lectures given by speakers of the faculty as well as internationally leading guest speakers. Moreover, an Editor Session with the chief editors of the most-renowned pulmonary journals gave the participants the opportunity to ask both general and specific questions about the process of scientific publishing. The program was complemented by training modules in different laboratories and in the Hospital of the Ludwig-Maximilian-University Munich and Asklepios Pulmonary Hospital Munich-Gauting. The participants explicitly enjoyed the clinical visits, which further highlighted the significance of research in this area. "No other institution in the world offers such a comprehensive training in respiratory medicine", said one participant of the Autumn School.
Using translational research methods, the CPC seeks to develop new approaches for the prevention, diagnosis and therapy of chronic lung diseases. Scientific findings are exchanged with clinicians as early as possible. Conversely, clinical experience is transferred directly to the scientist in the lab. This may significantly shorten the time from fundamental research to clinical application (current average ~ 15 years).
As an additional benefit, participants of the Munich International Autumn School (MIAS) for Respiratory Medicine 2015 were invited to attend the Munich Pittsburgh Lung Conference 2015 (MPLC) on "Precision Medicine: From molecular mechanisms to targeted therapy", which took place in Munich one week prior to the training (October 2-3, 2015).