PF Strategies
Partners in Advocacy, Education and Research Innovation
Serving the Pulmonary Fibrosis and Rare Disease Communities
Fibrosis Across Species
A Workshop on Comparative Pathology of Fibrosing Lung Disorders
April 27-29, 2014
Human lung disease researchers and veterinarians met April 27-29, 2014 at The Brown Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky, for the "Fibrosis Across Species" workshop convened by the Westie Foundation of America (WFA), and hosted by the University of Louisville's Medical Center and its Equine Center. Sponsors of the meeting include InterMune, Inc., Boehringer-Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Biogen Idec, Inc., Genentech, Inc., The Coalition for Pulmonary Fibrosis, The Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation, The Hermansky Pudlak Syndrome Network, The West Highland White Terrier Club of America, The West Highland White Terrier Club of Southeast Texas, Suburbia North Animal Hospital in Houston, Skyehigh Westies, The Shamrock Westie Family and individual donors including Westie Foundation of America Past President Wayne Kompare and Roberta Macabee.
The "Fibrosis Across Species" meeting was built on the success of a 2007 meeting,that brought together human and veterinary scientists to discuss similarities between the WHWT and human forms of PF.
The scientific paper from the 2007 meeting was published in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society. The paper identified similarities across species and makes strong suggestions for a path forward. One of the experts’ recommendations was the convening of the Fibrosis Across Species meeting.