Global Women Leaders to Feature at TSANZ Respiratory Symposium

• The TSANZ Symposium on Women in Respiratory Leadership will be held in Perth in March 2026
• The TSANZ Symposium will comprise senior clinical, scientific, and organisational leaders from Australia, New Zealand, and the USA

Breaking barriers, breathing change - women in respiratory leadership will be a symposium taking place during the annual scientific meeting on the TSANZ.

This symposium will allow senior medical, scientific and organisational leaders from Australia, NZ and USA to gather together at the TSANZ symposium 2026 to discuss their own experience of leadership within their area of expertise and how it can shape the way forward for others in a respiratory context.

The symposium is being run by The Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand (TSANZ) and has been solely funded by Chiesi Australia. It will take place on Monday, 30th of March 2026 from 8.30 to 10.00am and will be part of a five-day program of the TSANZ Annual Scientific Meeting.

The session will look at the various pathways of leadership, representation and the structural factors that affect the progression of careers via the field of Respiratory Medicine, research and professional organisations.

The session will be chaired by Cecilia Prêle (Principal Research Fellow, Institute for Respiratory Health). The session will have speakers from various areas of Respiratory practice, research, policy and organisational leadership.

Lida Hariri, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, provides an international aspect of this event that is based on her research in translational lung disease as well as her experience in mentoring early career clinicians and scientists.

The discussion will cover the individual experiences of leadership, institutionally-based observations of the issues women face when pursuing careers in respiratory medicine and science, and how to develop an inclusive and sustainable leadership structure.