Call for Abstracts

Abstract Deadline: February 14, 2026

On June 9–12, 2026, the 68th Annual Thomas L. Petty Aspen Lung Conference will convene at The Gant Conference Center in Aspen, Colorado. The theme of the conference will be “Pulmonary Vascular Disease: The Vascular Niche and its Interactions in Lung Homeostasis and Disease”. Pulmonary vascular disease (PVD), characterized by dysfunction of the vascular niche with altered interactions of its cells with resident and recruited immune and hematologic cells, is a common and significant complication of highly prevalent conditions such as pulmonary arterial hypertension, chronic lung disease, chronic heart disease, chronic pulmonary emboli, acute respiratory distress syndrome, sepsis, exposure-related lung disease, and developmental lung disease. If chronic or severe, dysfunction of the vascular niche can result in pulmonary vascular remodeling and development of pulmonary hypertension and right heart failure. Understanding advances in PVD in these conditions can provide cross-informative insights that significantly propel the field forward.

The conference will focus on a central question: Are current advancements in understanding the mechanisms of lung vascular cell dysfunction and lung vascular remodeling sufficient to develop effective strategies for the treatment of pulmonary vascular disease in conditions like pulmonary hypertension, chronic lung disease, sepsis, and acute lung injury? The program has been organized into a series of six thematic sessions, which will include keynote addresses and State of the Art presentations, followed by short presentations and ample time for discussion to encourage a lively exchange of ideas. Thematic sessions will be as follows: (1) Novel insights into pulmonary hypertension phenotypes and vascular remodeling in the pulmonary circulation; (2) The vascular niche in the pulmonary circulation: Modifying resident cell function to treat PVD; (3) The vascular niche in the pulmonary circulation: Modifying circulating and recruited cell function to treat PVD; (4) Understanding cellular interactions in the pulmonary circulation in chronic lung disease: Towards a cure for group 3 pulmonary hypertension; (5) Mechanisms of cardiac adaptation and maladaptation and their effects on heart-lung interactions in PVD; (6) Current and emerging diagnostic and treatment strategies for pulmonary hypertension and PVD. These themes will be reconciled in a concluding Conference Summary presented by Dr. Serpil Erzurum, Professor of Medicine at Cleveland Clinic.

We are particularly interested in attracting basic, translational, or clinical research abstracts related to the broad topics above. Accordingly, we invite you and your colleagues to submit abstracts on topics related to pulmonary vascular biology and disease for consideration for a podium presentation and/or poster session (abstracts can be similar to those used for ATS, AHA, or other conferences). All who submit abstracts are invited to attend the conference whether their abstract is accepted or not but must register if they plan to attend.

Please use the enclosed Abstract Guidelines as your guide. The deadline for abstract submission is February 14, 2026, and notifications will be sent out by March 31, 2026.

On behalf of my co-chairs, Eva Nozik, M.D. and Yen-Rei Andrea Yu, M.D., Ph.D., we look forward to your participation in the 68th Annual Thomas L. Petty Aspen Lung Conference and to a combination of outstanding science, beautiful scenery, and great fun.

Sincerely yours,
Tim Lahm, M.D.
Co-Chair, 68th Annual Meeting
Thomas L. Petty Aspen Lung Conference
Professor of Medicine
National Jewish Health
University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
Denver, Colorado, USA

To Submit Your Abstract:

1. Adhere to the Abstract Guidelines
2. Complete the Abstract Submission Form​

The deadline for abstract submission is February 14, 2026. All who submit abstracts are invited to attend the conference whether their abstract is accepted or not but must register if they plan to attend. Time limitations, however, do not allow all submitted abstracts to be presented. In the past, about one third of the submitted abstracts were accepted for podium presentations or poster sessions based on evaluation by a Selection Committee.

All investigators will be notified on or near March 31, 2026 about acceptance of their abstracts.

We will offer seven Fellow Travel Awards to fellows whose abstracts have been accepted for podium presentations. 

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