May 28, 2009
J. Randall Curtis named president of the American Thoracic Society
Dr. J. Randall Curtis, UW professor of medicine in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, was installed as president of the American Thoracic Society (ATS) on May 19 during the society’s international conference in San Diego.
The ATS is the world’s leading medical association dedicated to advancing the clinical and scientific understanding of pulmonary diseases, critical illnesses and sleep-related breathing disorders. The ATS, which started in 1905 to combat tuberculosis in the United States, has grown into an international society with over 15,000 members. The 2009 ATS International Conference had close to 14,000 participants from all over the world with presentation of the latest scientific and clinical information concerning pulmonary, critical care, and sleep.
Curtis, who is the section head of Pulmonary and Critical Care at Harborview Medical Center, directs the Harborview/University of Washington End-of-Life Care Research Program and conducts clinical research on assessing and improving end-of-life and palliative care in the intensive care units and for patients with chronic disease.
He has chaired several ATS committees, including the Clinicians Task Force, Healthcare Policy Committee, Strategic Planning Committee and Workforce Congressional Action Team. He also serves on the Board of Trustees for the Foundation of the American Thoracic Society.
Curtis received his medical degree from Johns Hopkins University and a master’s of public health in epidemiology from the UW. He served as a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar and has received a UW Fellowship in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine.
