The inaugural Progressive Pulmonary Fibrosis Symposium brought leading lung disease researchers and clinicians to The Herbert Wertheim UF Scripps Institute for Biomedical Innovation & Technology on Monday, April 20, 2026, as speakers shared research on a group of life-threatening inflammatory conditions that affect millions of people globally.
The symposium highlighted emerging science and fostered new connections. Event organizer Joe G.N. “Skip” Garcia, M.D., director of the Center for Inflammation Science and Systems Medicine at The Wertheim UF Scripps Institute, said his hope is that the conference will accelerate progress toward much-needed better treatments.
“There’s massive unmet medical need in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and primary progressive fibrosis. There are treatments, but they are not well-tolerated by patients, and there is a lot of premature mortality,” said Garcia, who is also the associate vice president for research at UF Health.
Speakers included some of the leading researchers and physicians in the field: Robert Kaner, M.D.; from Weill Cornell Medicine; Jack Elias, M.D., from Brown University; Naftali Kaminski, M.D., of Yale School of Medicine; Takis Benos, Ph.D., from the University of Florida; Imre Noth, M.D., from the University of Virginia, David Schwartz, M.D., from the University of Colorado, and Ivan Rosas, M.D., from the Baylor College of Medicine, among others.
Talks investigated the role of chromatin, the molecular switch CHI3L1, and circulating monocytes and autoantibodies in inflammatory lung disease. They also discussed clinical trial challenges and treatment successes in disease management.
The event was sponsored by Aqualung Therapeutics, a company founded by Dr. Garcia. Special acknowledgement went to the institute’s founding honorary chairman, Dr. Herbert Wertheim, O.D., D.Sc., M.D., (hc), whose support makes such events possible.
