Meet the experts guiding the scientific programme of APBC 2026.
Conference Chair
MD, PhD
Tokyo, Japan
Scientific Committee
Kozo Morimoto, MD, Ph.D, is a pulmonologist at Fukujuji Hospital, Anti-Tuberculosis Association, Tokyo, where he serves as Chief of the Division of Clinical Research at the Respiratory Disease Center. He is also a professor in the Department of Clinical Mycobacteriosis at Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Science and a principal researcher at the Research Institute of Tuberculosis. Prof. Morimoto leads various projects within the division and department, focusing on the design and analysis of epidemiological and clinical studies of pulmonary diseases, particularly NTMPD and bronchiectasis. Prof. Morimoto has published more than 100 articles in international peer-reviewed journals and contributed four book chapters on NTMPD. He is a board member of the Nontuberculous mycobacteriosis and bronchiectasis- Japan Research Consortium(JRC). Additionally, he is a member of the International Relations Committee of the Japanese Respiratory Society and the Nontuberculous Mycobacteriosis Control Committee of the Japanese Society for TB and NTM.
Dr Takanori Asakura, MD, PhD, is a Senior Assistant Professor of Pulmonary Medicine at Keio University School of Medicine and a pulmonologist at Keio University Hospital in Tokyo, Japan. He is a physician-scientist specializing in bronchiectasis, nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease, primary ciliary dyskinesia, and airway epithelial biology. After completing his medical and doctoral training at Keio University, he undertook translational research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he studied airway mucus pathology and epithelial remodeling in chronic airway diseases. His current research combines clinical cohorts, human airway and lung samples, airway epithelial culture models, spatial transcriptomics, and single-cell omics to investigate mucus obstruction, mucociliary dysfunction, and host–microbe interactions in chronic airway disease. He is also actively involved in developing clinical and translational research networks for bronchiectasis, nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease, and primary ciliary dyskinesia in Japan and the Asia-Pacific region.
A/Prof Chotirmall is an internationally recognized clinician-scientist with an established translational respiratory research group at the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, NTU Singapore. To date, he has performed key work on endo-phenotyping pulmonary infection, including the use of next generation sequencing approaches, in the context of chronic inflammatory respiratory diseases that have led to >200 publications including those in Nature Medicine, the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), Cell Host and Microbe, Nature Microbiology, the European Respiratory Journal (ERJ) and the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine (AJRCCM). He continues clinical practice at Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore and currently serves as Vice Dean (Research) at the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, NTU Singapore and Deputy Editor at the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine (AJRCCM).
Dr Dhar has more than 27 years of experience in Pulmonology, Critical Medical Management and Interventional Pulmonology. He is proficient in all disciplines of Respiratory Medicine including airways disease, pulmonary fibrosis, pulmonary hypertension, transplant, lung cancer, sleep medicine, lung infections including TB, and respiratory emergencies. His special interest lies in Interventional Pulmonology including electrocautery, APC, cryotherapy, stent placements and Medical Thoracoscopy as well as rare stroke orphan lung diseases Interstitial Lung Disease Asthma & Allergy COPD Sleep Medicine Advanced Lung Function services Interventional & Diagnostic Pulmonology All disciplines of Respiratory Medicine. He is passionate about teaching and is an avid researcher and academician.
Dr Kozu is a physiotherapist and academic faculty member with expertise in pulmonary rehabilitation, respiratory physiotherapy, and early rehabilitation in acute and critical care settings. His clinical and research interests include rehabilitation for patients with COPD, ILD, bronchiectasis, and critically ill patients, as well as education and clinical practice guideline-related activities in pulmonary rehabilitation.
Lucy is a respiratory physician and clinician researcher working predominantly in public practice in Sydney. Her clinical practice covers the full range of lung problems but she has a special interest in respiratory infections, bronchiectasis and PCD. Lucy has a long standing commitment to patients with Bronchiectasis and has been part of the WBC family since the very beginning. She is Professor at the University of Sydney, Australia and has academic appointments at Macquarie University and Sydney University with a strong interest in teaching and training junior doctors and lung researchers throughout the Macquarie University Hospital, Nepean Hospital and Concord Hospital Clinical Schools. She was inaugural chair of the Australasian Bronchiectasis Consortium and clinical lead for the Australian Bronchiectasis Registry project. She is currently Chair of Lung Foundation Australia
Professor Chin-Chung Shu is a pulmonologist and clinical researcher at National Taiwan University Hospital and National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan. His clinical and research interests focus on nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) pulmonary disease and tuberculosis, with particular emphasis on host–pathogen interactions, molecular diagnostics, and novel therapeutic strategies. He has led and participated in multiple clinical and translational studies on NTM and tuberculosis and has received several academic awards, including the ERS Mid-Career Gold Medal in NTM. He is actively involved in regional and international collaborations aimed at improving the diagnosis and management of mycobacterial diseases.
Prof Thomson is a respiratory physician, specialising in bronchiectasis and NTM infections. She is Australia’s leading clinician-scientist in the field of NTM lung infections. At the University of Queensland she is head of the Greenslopes Clinical Unit, Faculty of Medicine, and leads the Mycobacterial Diseases & Bronchiectasis Research group. Through international connections, she was instrumental in establishing the Australian Bronchiectasis Registry, securing funding and linkages with the European and US registries to facilitate collaborative research. Prof Thomson is lead investigator on clinical trials for NTM and bronchiectasis, and has formed the Australian NTM Research Consortium, to facilitate multisite collaborative NTM research and a biobank facility. In addition to her current roles, she has held several leadership roles within the American Thoracic Society, including board member and Chair of the Pulmonary Infections and TB Assembly (2020-22). Professor Thomson’s clinical work is focussed on specialised clinics for patients with NTM infections and bronchiectasis. Her current research interests include host susceptibility to NTM lung disease, NTM in cystic fibrosis, the gut-lung axis, and the clinical and environmental epidemiology of NTM infection.
Professor, Chief Physician, Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine; Vice President of Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital; Head of Institute of Respiratory Medicine, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai Standing member of Chinese Thoracic Society; Elected Chairman of Shanghai Thoracic Society; Founder and Executive Chairman of Bronchiectasis Registry China (BE-China) Email: jfxucn@163.com; jfxu@tongji.edu.cn Prof. Jin-fu Xu graduated and got his Medical Degree from Tongji Medical University (Wuhan), and got his PhD from Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University. He worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School in Boston. Prof. Xu works as respiratory physician. His research is focusing on bronchiectasis, COPD and lung infections. He published over 100 articles in journals, including Nature Immunology, Lancet Digital Health, AJRCCM, European Respiratory Journal, EMBO molecular medicine, Chest, eBioMedicine, Clinical Microbiology and Infection, JEM, etc. He authored or was editor of 10 books. Prof. Xu is the Founder and executive chairman of Bronchiectasis Registry China (BE-China) (http://www.chinabronchiectasis.com/), which is including more than 106 hospitals, the largest clinical study platform and the only one for bronchiectasis in China. He issued the Chinese Guideline of Diagnosis and Treatment of Bronchiectasis 2021. He is the Chief Editor of which is the first book of bronchiectasis in China. He is the Associate editor of Respiratory Research, and the Scientific editorial board member of Clinical Microbiology and Infection.
