Conversation with Professor Stefano Aliberti

You are the co-chair of the World Bronchiectasis Conference, can you tell us what your role has been at this key event?

My role as a co-chair was to support the chair, Professor James Chalmers, in organising the congress. Mainly, I was involved in planning the talks, whether this be about science or data, and arranging the speakers for these. I also helped to arrange the different events, for example the Association and Patient Village, and review abstracts and awards for the event. Through working together to plan the topics, speakers and timings, we were able to make this a congress to remember!

What were some of the key moments from the World Bronchiectasis Conference?

For me, there were many key moments during this event. However, to list a handful, I would say one of the events that stood out to me was being able to have discussions with people living with bronchiectasis within the Patient Village. This was mainly about the data presented by the different speakers during the congress, which I found very interesting.

Another highlight for me was, on the Saturday morning of the World Bronchiectasis Conference, there were many useful tracks presented for different healthcare professionals and people living with bronchiectasis. I found these incredible to listen to.

Also, another key event included the presentation of data from phase II and phase III studies. Phase II studies test the safety of treatments, whilst Phase III studies compare the effectiveness of new therapies with the current ones. There were also posters being presented and discussed at the event, with a focus on new and relevant bronchiectasis data. Together, this gives hope for the field and future of bronchiectasis treatments.

Why is it important that we bring together patients and professionals for these events?

We, as scientists, should be guided by the people living with lung conditions. We should think of their needs when designing studies. Then, we need to explain the results of these studies to the same people who live with the condition. The most important goal in our profession is to improve quality of life for people, and the results from our research should be explained in a simple way so that people with lung conditions can use this knowledge within their daily life.

How have you worked with ELF in the field of bronchiectasis?

I have been working alongside the ELF for many years. I was also previously an officer for the ERS. ELF is the most important partner in our research, having worked with them for many projects for bronchiectasis and other lung conditions.

Bronchiectasis has become a hot topic in the respiratory field. Can you tell us what other events and developments will take place this year?

We are working to dedicate more space to bronchiectasis and those living with the condition at the ERS Congress in Vienna in September. There will be a space for people with bronchiectasis to meet and discuss with scientists at this event.

There will also be the European Bronchiectasis Workshop early next year in Paris. In addition, in another year, there will be the 8th World Bronchiectasis Conference hosted in Brisbane, Australia. This is an exciting time to meet people living with bronchiectasis and work with them and for them.

Why is patient input important for researchers in the field of bronchiectasis?

Bronchiectasis as a lung condition varies between different people. We should be guided by input from those living with this on a daily basis, to better understand the condition and help guide our research questions.

What are your hopes for the future within the field of bronchiectasis? Do you think anything else is needed to be done to raise awareness?

Yes. Bronchiectasis diagnosis often has a long delay and can also be misdiagnosed. We recently published this data for Italy (Chessari et al, 2024).

We must reduce this delay and have people living with the condition followed up by lung health experts (pulmonologists) interested in bronchiectasis as soon as possible. To enable this, we must strengthen our relationship with doctors and work more closely with them. This is important to improve diagnosis and outcomes for people with bronchiectasis.

Do you have anything else that you would like to tell people?

Raise your voice with regulators and other stakeholders. Bronchiectasis is a common condition. Healthcare providers and politicians should support people living with it and stand by healthcare professionals.