MED | ERS Congress 2026 in Barcelona: 23 Scientific Contributions to International Respiratory Research

The European Respiratory Society (ERS) Congress 2026 in Barcelona once again brought together the international respiratory community to discuss the latest scientific developments, emerging challenges and future directions in lung health. The collaboration between the SFU MED and the LBI Lung Health was strongly represented at this year’s congress, with 23 scientific contributions, including an oral presentation.

The presentations reflected the broad scientific spectrum of the Institute’s research and highlighted the value of the Austrian LEAD Study as a unique longitudinal, population-based research platform. Our researchers presented findings across a wide range of topics, including lung function and its trajectories across the lifespan, asthma and allergy, small airways disease, COPD, cardiometabolic health, body composition, sleep, tobacco use and respiratory physiomics.

These studies underline the importance of considering respiratory health as a dynamic process that develops and changes throughout life and explored the close relationship between lung health and other aspects of overall health. Presentations investigated the links between lung function and cardiometabolic factors, early vascular ageing, body composition and visceral adipose tissue. Further contributions focused on sleep disturbances in obstructive airway diseases, highlighting the complex interactions between respiratory disease and broader health outcomes.

The research programme also included important findings on respiratory health in children and adolescents. New analyses from the Austrian LEAD general population cohort addressed lung function development and potential catch-up processes during childhood and adolescence, contributing to a better understanding of respiratory health trajectories from an early age.

A particular highlight was the presentation of LEAD-DETECT – Austria’s First Lung Cancer Screening Program: Baseline Results from a Risk-Prediction-Based Approach. The presentation contributed important evidence to the ongoing international discussion on the implementation of risk-based strategies for the early detection of lung cancer.

We are proud of the outstanding contributions of our researchers and grateful to all colleagues and collaboration partners who represented their work in Barcelona. The discussions, new perspectives and international connections gained during the congress will continue to inspire

our work as we advance our shared mission: improving the understanding of lung health and disease to contribute to better patient care and public health.

We would like to thank all members of our research team for their excellent scientific work and their commitment to bringing Austrian lung health research to the international stage.