Dharani K. Narendra, MD, FCCP
Dharani K. Narendra, MD, FCCP
For clinicians who manage asthma, COPD, bronchiectasis, and other airways disease, CHEST 2026 will offer a guideline-driven curriculum built around what’s new, immediately applicable, and possibly even controversial.
Dharani K. Narendra, MD, FCCP, Co-Lead of the CHEST Airways Disease Curriculum Group and a pulmonary and critical care physician at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, helped shape a program she describes as an invaluable resource for clinicians across every stage of their career.
“CHEST has always been a very top-notch conference for practicing clinicians where they can get all the updates and information in one stop,” Dr. Narendra said.
COPD: New guidelines, new biomarkers, new questions
COPD remains one of the most actively evolving areas in pulmonary medicine, and CHEST 2026 reflects that. The Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) 2026 guidelines, published earlier this year, introduced the concept of disease modification and emphasized the impact of even a single exacerbation affecting a patient’s life.
“Dr. Gerard Criner, the GOLD Board of Directors and committee member from Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia, is coming to present these updates, so we are excited,” Dr. Narendra said.
Updates in COPD Management: GOLD 2026 and Beyond will bring those recommendations to clinical practice for clinicians, while Current Controversies in COPD: A Pro-Con Debate tackles the tough questions, including who to screen in at-risk populations and the emerging role of biomarkers in COPD management.
“Unlike in asthma, we haven’t established the role of biomarkers in COPD, like eosinophils or FeNO,” Dr. Narendra said. "We are going to have a good discussion on how FeNO is going to guide management with our COPD population.”
Putting bronchiectasis and asthma guidelines into action
A wave of new clinical practice guidelines has reshaped airways disease management in recent years, and a central theme of CHEST 2026 is putting those guidelines into practice. Bronchiectasis 2026: Guidance for the General Pulmonologist distills recent guideline updates into clinic-ready strategies. Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency: New Advancements in Diagnosis and Treatment will address newly published Canadian Thoracic Society guidelines.
Finally, for asthma specialists, Raising the Bar in Asthma Management: Moving to Clinical Remission and Disease Modification explores the shift toward remission as an achievable treatment goal.
Content for experienced clinicians
Mid-career clinicians will find sessions designed specifically for the complexity of their daily practice. Should COPD Have Its Own Multidisciplinary Evaluation (MDE)? Building an MDE Team for Advanced COPD addresses the challenging decisions around which patients to refer for transplant or bronchoscopic lung volume reduction therapies—a session that goes well beyond standard management.
And Mucus Plugging in Airway Disorders: From Imaging to Therapeutics, a session Dr. Narendra called out as a personal highlight, brings together experts across asthma, COPD, and bronchiectasis. “They’ve all published practice guidelines on management of mucus plugging,” she said. “It’s from imaging to therapeutics. These are patients who suffer from this disease and are undiagnosed, and we can rethink the role of CT imaging and novel therapies to control this.”
For Dr. Narendra, who has attended nearly every CHEST meeting since her first as a fellow in 2012, the value of the conference extends well beyond the sessions.
“Why I'm here today is because of all the camaraderie, friendship, and mentorship that I received from CHEST colleagues,” she said.
Her advice to anyone considering attending? “Come learn, meet the experts, and experience the fun learning!”
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