Symposium 16 - APRC 2024

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Symposium 16：Environmental Lung Disease

Air pollution leads to major lethal diseases including stroke, ischemic heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer. The combined effects of ambient air pollution and household air pollution is associated with 7 million premature deaths annually. Over the years, there have been raising public awareness of air pollution and increasing efforts to improve air quality. This symposium will focus on the current status of air pollution and efforts to improve air quality in the Asia-Pacific region, the interactions between air pollution and gut microbiota, and dealing with air pollution in a hospital setting.

Date: Sunday, April 28, 2024 | Time: 08:30-10:00 (GMT+8)

Moderator: Dr. Chau-Chyun Sheu (Taiwan) | Prof. Yasuo Morimoto (Japan)

Time (GMT+8)	Topic	Speaker	Country / Region
08:30-09:00	State and topic of Indoor and outdoor exposures to fine particles	Prof. Yasuo Morimoto	Japan
09:00-09:30	Interactions between air pollution and gut microbiota on human health	Prof. Peggy Lai	USA
09:30-10:00	Innovative health promotion and environmental education under air pollution environment	Dr. Chih-Hsing Hung	Taiwan

State and topic of Indoor and outdoor exposures to fine particles

Abstract:
Indoor and outdoor exposures to fine particles are known to cause lung disorder. As for outdoor exposure, it is thought to exist a causal relationship between short-term exposure to PM2.5 and emergency department visit and hospitalization of COPD and bronchial asthma, and between long-term exposure to PM2.5 and mortality of lung cancer. Recently the effect of PM2.5 on idiopathic interstitial pneumonitis, COVID-19, and new topic have been reported, these reports including meta-analysis are introduced. As for indoor exposure, new topics of occupational exposure to chemicals in Japan are reported. Unlike inorganic chemicals, organic chemicals, when used indoors, are reported to cause allergic diseases and tumors in the lungs, but it has rarely been reported that organic chemicals cause fibrosis such as pneumoconiosis. In Japan, pulmonary fibrosis has been occurring frequently at companies that handle polyacrylic acid, which has little biological effect on humans and is used in pharmaceuticals, food, shampoo, conditioner, etc. that people use every day. The effect of physicochemical properties of polyacrylic acid on the lung is reported.

Prof. Yasuo Morimoto

Occupational Lung Disease | University Of Occupational And Environmental Health, Japan
Japan

Professional Experience:

1986.3 Graduated from Kagoshima University, Faculty of Medicine
2001 Professor, Dept of Occupational Pneumology,
2016.4-2022.3 Director of Institute of Industrial Ecological Sciences (IIES), UOEH
2022.4- Director of Center for Stress-related Disease Control and Prevention
2023.4- Director, Facility for Education and Research Support
2023.4- Director of Library

Interactions between air pollution and gut microbiota on human health

Abstract:
Exposure to air pollution is one of the largest environmental risk factors leading to premature mortality worldwide. While not intuitive, air pollution exposure has the potential to alter the gut microbiome through ingestion of inhaled particles with chamber studies showing that 20% of inhaled fine particles are immediately ingested. Beyond the microbial components of air pollution serving as a source of microbes to the gastrointestinal tract, non-microbial components of air pollution such as PM2.5 have been shown in animal studies to alter the gut microbiome through the induction of inflammatory changes. In this talk, we will briefly review principles of microbiome and virome research, discuss existing human studies focused on air pollution exposure and changes to the gut microbiome, and review recent research focused on an air pollution intervention study (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03351504) and changes to the gut microbiome and virome.

Prof. Peggy Lai

Associate Professor Of Medicine | Massachusetts General Hospital
USA

Professional Experience:

Dr. Lai is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital with appointments at Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School and the T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She is trained in pulmonary and critical care medicine with a translational research program focused on research at the intersection of environmental exposures, the microbiome, and lung health.

Innovative health promotion and environmental education under air pollution environment

Abstract:
The Siaogang District of Kaohsiung City is located in a heavy industry area with around 1,482 factories and heavy air pollution. For a long time, the issue of air pollution affecting the health of local residents need our effort to be ceased. There are the several issues need to be solved in Siaogang area. Therefore, Kaohsiung Medical University, under the solid foundation of higher education talent cultivation, and Siaogang Hospital exert the energy accumulated in the long-term local cultivation, integrate cross-institutional and cross-college professional knowledge fields, and invite local communities, primary and secondary schools in Siaogang to jointly promote the local care practice plan for environmental education and health promotion. It is hoped that through the talent training resources at the university side and the co-learning mode of teachers and students, the environmental education and health promotion will be anchored in the air pollution, and take root in the middle and primary schools, and practice cross-domain and cross-school “talent co-learning” and “in the university’s social responsibility of “connecting with the ground”, to achieve the goal of “connecting education – converging and connecting”, and exerting social influence. Through the connection of educational resources to promote diverse learning, service feedback, environmental education, and health promotion, from the campus to the community, so that disadvantaged groups, economically disadvantaged students and the public can enjoy the well-being of health care, reduce social injustice, and promote peace diverse society through some innovations.

We hope to promote environmental education and health promotion activities under air pollution, so that the Siaogang area can become a demonstration area for “the peaceful coexistence of residents and the environment”, “schools and social education”, and “health and life promotion” in the Kaohsiung Industrial Zone, and has become a characteristic program of national air pollution environment and health promotion education.

Dr. Chih-Hsing Hung

Administrative Vice Superintendent | Kaohsiung Municipal Siaogang Hospital
Taiwan

Professional Experience:

Department of Medicine
National Defense Medical College Doctor of Medicine
Kaohsiung Medical University

Director of Department of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology
Kaohsiung Medical University Professor of Pediatrics
Kaohsiung Medical University

Dr. Chau-Chyun Sheu

Director Of Critical Care Center | Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital
Taiwan

Professional Experience:

Dr. Chau-Chyun Sheu received his MD and PhD degrees from Kaohsiung Medical University (KMU). After finishing his fellowship in Pulmonary Medicine and Critical Care Medicine at KMU Hospital, Dr. Sheu received critical care training at the medical ICU of University of Virginia Health System, USA in 2002. In 2003, Dr. Sheu started his research career at the MedicoGenomic Center of KMU. From 2007 to 2010, Dr. Sheu was a research fellow at the Department of Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health, where he received advanced training for molecular and genetic epidemiology. Dr. Sheu’s clinical and research interests lie primarily in the areas of airway diseases, interstitial lung diseases and critical care. During 2018-2023, he served as the Chair of Committee of pulmonary environmental and occupational medicine, Taiwan Society of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. During 2020-2023 Dr. Sheu also severed as directors of the Department of Internal Medicine and the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. He is currently a professor of medicine at KMU, and the Director of Critical Care Center at KMU Hospital.

Symposium 16：Environmental Lung Disease

APRC 2024 Secretariat

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