Better Breathing Week 2026 is the Lung Health Foundation’s marquee event. This program is offered both in-person and virtually, reaching a nationwide audience. One of Canada’s largest conferences for the respiratory medical community, bringing together a diverse range of professionals including primary care providers, respirologists, respiratory therapists, nurses, pharmacists, and researchers. Better Breathing Week is partially supported by the Ontario Ministry of Health.
Event Dates
January 20-21, 2026
(Virtual)
January 23-24, 2026
(In-Person at the Hyatt Regency Toronto)
We invite abstract submissions that showcase programs, initiatives, research, and innovations with a direct impact on practice change in lung health. Submissions should highlight strategies, real-world implementation, advocacy, and measurable improvements in patient care, health system efficiency, and health outcomes.
We strongly encourage submissions that incorporate principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion—particularly those that address disparities in lung health, promote equitable access to care, and showcase underrepresented voices in research, practice, and policy.
Additionally, we invite submissions directly from people impacted by lung diseases, in partnership with clinical/research teams, who can provide insight on supporting clinicians and researchers from a person-centered perspective.
If you have any questions about the conference or abstract submission, please reach out to the Lung Health Foundation at conferences@lunghealth.ca.
Submission Categories
- Interactive Lecture
- Format: Expert-led presentations reviewing key updates in lung health, including year-in-review summaries and clinical practice discussions.
- Duration: 35 minutes of content followed by a 10-minute Q&A session.
- Eligibility: Clinicians, researchers, and healthcare professionals presenting overviews of developments in lung health.
- Case Reports and Clinical Case Discussions
- Format: Panel sessions focused on clinical case studies with interactive group discussions.
- Duration: 60 minutes, including a 10-minute Q&A segment.
- Eligibility: Healthcare professionals sharing unique or instructive patient cases.
- Workshops
- Format: Interactive sessions designed to provide clinicians with hands-on clinical skills or procedural training (i.e., spirometry workshop).
- Duration: 75 minutes
- Eligibility: Facilitators offering skill-building activities or in-depth explorations of specific topics in lung health (educational workshops, spirometry interpretation, etc.).
- Debates
- Format: Structured discussions on current controversies or differing perspectives in the lung health medical field.
- Duration: 60 to 75 minutes.
- Eligibility: Experts presenting opposing viewpoints on pertinent topics
- Lung Health Advocacy in Action Workshop
- Format: This workshop is designed to build capacity at the intersection of science, medicine, and public policy, equipping clinicians and researchers to drive change on pressing lung health issues through strategic advocacy.
- Duration: 75 minutes to 90 minutes.
- Eligibility: Clinicians, researchers, social scientists, and policy experts. These sessions can also be conducted in collaboration with people impacted by lung conditions.
- Poster Presentations
- Format: Visual displays of research findings, programs, clinical cases, or initiatives, presented in a designated poster area.
- Session: In-person during the conference dates of January 23-24, 2026.
- Eligibility: Clinicians, researchers, social scientists, and policy experts. These sessions can also be conducted in collaboration with people impacted by lung conditions.
- *Note: Speakers will be eligible for prizes based on merit.
- Oral Research Presentations
- Format: An oral presentation of completed or ongoing research studies that will provide the audience with an understanding of the advancements in and breadth of lung health research in Canada. In addition to primary research, we invite submissions of research exploring a wide range of topics that influence lung disease prevention, early detection, treatment, management, and education, such as (but not limited to): health economics, disease burden, use and application of AI/ML, quality improvement initiatives, health system transformation, innovations in clinical practice, behaviour change, and program implementation and sustainability.
- Session: In-person during the conference dates of January 23-24, 2026.
- Eligibility: Graduate students, trainees/fellows, clinicians, clinical scientists, researchers.
- *Note: Speakers will be eligible for prizes based on merit.
Abstract Submission Details
Submission Portal
- Opening Date: April 30th, 2025
- Closing Date: July 30th, 2025
- Abstracts must be:
- Original and not previously published.
- Submitted by a registered participant.
- Accompanied by a Conflict of Interest (CoI) declaration.
- Approved by all co-authors.
Once accepted, detailed preparation instructions will be provided.
Evaluation Considerations
- Impact on the lung health community and clinical practice
- Appeal to an inter-disciplinary audience of clinicians, policymakers, and people living with lung conditions
- Alignment with topic areas described below
A blind review of the submitted abstracts will be conducted by the Scientific Planning Committee which will determine whether the abstract will be accepted into the scientific program and for which presentation type. Consideration will be given to the author’s preference.
Example Topic Areas for Submission
Submissions should align with at least one of the following:
- Lung Health Foundation’s key disease areas (asthma, COPD, lung cancer)
- Lung Health Foundation’s key prevention and intervention strategies (air quality, nicotine cessation, vaccination)
- Lung Health Foundation’s priority advocacy areas (access to health care services, access to pharmacotherapies and medical technologies, investments in research, ending commercial tobacco and nicotine sales, policies that support air quality in built and natural environments)
Topic suggestions include, but are not limited to:
- Person-Centered Care & Health System Barriers
- Person-Centered Approach to Nicotine Cessation
- Long-Term Effects of Vaping
- Pharmacological Interventions for Rare & Common Lung Diseases
- Air Quality, Radon Exposure, and Long-Term Health Risks
- Chronic Cough & Symptom Management
- AI in Lung Disease Diagnosis & Treatment
- Biologics in COPD & Asthma
- Social Determinants of Health & Access to Care
- Pulmonary Function Testing & Rehabilitation
- Lung Health and The Impacts of Climate Change
- Environmental Impacts of Inhalers
- Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) Exposure
- Lung Cancer Screening & Emerging Therapies
- Immunization Strategies for At-Risk Populations
- Mental Health & COPD: Addressing Psychological Stressors
- Heart Failure & COPD: Managing Comorbidities
- Spirometry Interpretation
- Respiratory Health Advocacy: Activating Clinicians and Researchers to Advocate for Patients and System Change
- Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Clinical Care, Research, Health Policy
- Reflections on Impacts of Current Geo-Political Context on Canadian Clinical Care, Research, and Health Policy
- Supporting Unattached Patients in Lung Cancer Screening
- How To: Supporting Unhoused Communities in Respiratory Care
- Uncovering Biases in Lung Health: Reflections for Clinicians and Researchers
- Supporting Rural and Remote Communities in Respiratory Care
If you have any questions about the conference or abstract submission, please reach out to the Lung Health Foundation at conferences@lunghealth.ca.