Note from the NetWork Chair

This has been an extraordinarily difficult year for everyone. When we shut down in March of 2020, I don’t think we could have imagined what this year would actually look like for so many of us on the front lines of COVID-19—the impact on our patients and delays in care, and the impact from tragic events in our country highlighting ever-present racism and social disparities in our society. The Women’s Lung Health NetWork (WLHN) works to increase awareness of disparities in care related to gender and sex and highlight important biologic differences that will allow us to care for our patients in the best way possible. We are currently working with the CHEST Foundation to include information regarding sex and gender as part of the educational information provided to patients. If you know CHEST members who are not involved in the WLHN, consider inviting them to join us, as our work overlaps all aspects of pulmonary and critical care medicine.  

Margaret Pisani, MD, FCCP 
Chair, Women’s Lung Health NetWork 

NetWork CHEST Physician article 

Check out our NetWork’s latest article, “Pregnancy in cystic fibrosis,” by steering committee member, Debasree Banerjee, MD, MS, in the latest CHEST Physician^® issue.  

Upcoming NetWork calls

As a NetWork member, you're welcome to join your NetWork Steering Committee calls. If interested in joining an upcoming call, please contact Michelle Kosobucki at mkosobucki@chestnet.org and she will be happy to share access information. 

• Tuesday, May 11, 2 pm CT 
• Tuesday, September 21, 2 pm CT  

Get to know your leadership: Mariam Louis, MD, FCCP, Vice-Chair  

Dr. Mariam Louis is the current Vice-Chair of the Women’s Lung Health NetWork. She joined CHEST as a fellow in 2004 and has served on the steering committee of the Women’s Lung Health NetWork since 2014 before being elected as Vice-Chair. Through these efforts, Dr. Louis has worked to highlight the importance of sex and gender in lung disease and sleep medicine through sessions at the CHEST Annual Meeting and educational materials on the CHEST website. As an active participant at the annual meeting, Dr. Louis submits proposals for sessions, reviews submissions, and volunteers to moderate. She believes in the importance of mentorship and sponsorship for pulmonary and sleep medicine colleagues and encourages involvement in CHEST and within WLHN for those who share an interest in gender and sex-related differences. She is actively involved in research related to pulmonary and sleep medicine. Outside of CHEST, Dr. Louis also leads efforts at both the local and state levels to promote women in science and medicine.