By the ISAM board of directors
As scientific leaders during a respiratory pandemic, the International Society for Aerosols in Medicine (ISAM) has been very busy over the past year, working to advance the understanding of aerosol medicine through the ISAM Journal (Journal of Aerosol Medicine and Pulmonary Drug Delivery), our 2021 Congress, a series of webinars, and a newly revamped web site. In addition, for the past two years, ISAM members and sponsor companies have been involved in developing novel medicines for COVID-19.
Journal
From early in the COVID-19 pandemic, our journal has published manuscripts by ISAM members helping to explain key issues related to management of airborne respiratory diseases. By July 2020, the ISAM Regulatory and Standardization Issues Networking group wrote and published a manuscript titled, “Urgent Appeal from International Society for Aerosols in Medicine (ISAM) During COVID-19: Clinical Decision Makers and Governmental Agencies Should Consider the Inhaled Route of Administration,” detailing the needs for regulatory, scientific and government personal to work together to maximize efficiency in development of inhaled drugs for the pandemic.
Other ISAM member manuscripts of note include Gerhard Scheuch’s article “Breathing Is Enough: For the Spread of Influenza Virus and SARS-CoV-2 by Breathing Only,” which addressed the science behind aerosol transmission with normal breathing and concluded that, yes, during normal breathing an infected person has the potential to transmit viruses, and an article by Seo et al on the impact of decontamination on the filtration performance of N95 respirators which demonstrated that decontamination procedures can be used with N95 respirators without a loss of filtration efficiency.
ISAM would like to recognize the contributions and accomplishments of Gerald Smaldone, who has served as Editor of the Journal of Aerosol Medicine and Pulmonary Drug Delivery since the journal’s founding more than 30 years ago and who recently announced that he will step down at the end of this year. A search for a new Editor-in-Chief is underway, and ISAM members are encouraged to consider submitting applications for this position to lead the ISAM Journal into the future.
2021 Congress
Chairs Jim Fink and Andy Clark and the entire 2021 ISAM congress planning committee worked for two years to develop, plan and host the congress in Boise. The committee’s plan to hold the congress with both in-person and virtual options made the ISAM Congress in Boise a huge success and will set a template for future ISAM congresses. During the meeting, delegates attending in Boise and across the globe took part in pre-congress workshops, the congress program, and networking opportunities.
