The 2019 iteration of the Drug Delivery to the Lungs conference, which will take place December 11-13, marks the event’s 30th year and will be the 15th DDL meeting held at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre. From its initial 1989 gathering of 100 delegates at the GlaxoSmithKline site in Ware, UK, the meeting has grown significantly, drawing over 850 attendees and 110 exhibitors to the 2018 conference.
While DDL will mark its anniversary with a gala dinner, the program will focus primarily on the future of inhaled drug delivery. In fact, the themed podium sessions for the meeting are: “Future of the Planet: Pollution and the environment,” “Future Directions: Prediction and Personalisation,” and “Future Technologies: Formulation and Devices.”
DDL committee members Ben Forbes and Phil Haywood point out that the meeting has long focused on developing inhalation scientists as much as on developing inhalation science. “It’s trying to foster careers from the earliest stages, through about mid-career, through to the DDL Lecture, which really is where people who have contributed a huge amount to the field can give us their reflections,” Forbes explains.
Along with the quality and value of the meeting, the friendliness and inclusivity of DDL is a key part of the conference’s appeal, Haywood says: “The people who attend always say they have really had a great time; it’s a great atmosphere with different age groups, with students through to older workers, they all mingle.”
As part of its efforts to encourage new researchers, DDL has offered free registration for students since 2016, and students are increasing their participation in 2019 by organizing a “New Researcher Network Lunch.” This new event, which will take place on December 11, is the result of a student-led initiative to increase discussion of the science across different student groups from different universities.
