GOLD COPD Conference Turns to Earlier Diagnosis and Proactive Care

Closing the gap in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) diagnosis and shifting care toward earlier, more proactive treatment will anchor the 2026 GOLD International COPD Conference, which opens Thursday in Philadelphia with sessions on exacerbations, multimorbidity, mucus dysfunction, and emerging biologic targets, according to the meeting agenda.¹

Built around the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) strategy, the conference runs Thursday, November 5, through Friday, November 6, at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. It is offered in person, with sessions simulcast to a global audience of health care providers who care for patients with COPD.

Pre-Conference Turns the GOLD Strategy Into Everyday Practice

Thursday begins with a morning pre-conference, “COPD Essentials: Translating the GOLD Strategy Into Practice,” running from 8:35 am to 1:20 pm. Its 4 sessions follow the patient’s path: establishing a diagnosis and starting therapy, choosing an inhaler and device, respiratory therapy-led strategies such as pulmonary rehabilitation, and “Advancing Therapy in COPD: What’s After Maximized Inhaler Therapy?”

Brian Bizik, MS, PA-C, of Terry Reilly Health Centers, and Corinne Young, MSN, FNP, of Colorado Springs Pulmonary Consultants, moderate and present alongside pulmonologists, and Ed Portillo, PharmD, of University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Pharmacy, will review inhaler devices. Later sessions split the dyspnea and exacerbation pathways to help clinicians match the next therapy to the patient, decisions that carry cost and access implications as add-on options, including biologics, enter the guidelines.¹

Beyond Inhalers: When Supportive Respiratory Therapy Enters the Conversation

Gerard Criner, MD, FACP, FACCP, of Temple University, will present “Advanced Supportive Therapies and Respiratory Support” during the pre-conference respiratory therapy session, Thursday from 11 am to 12:15 pm.¹ In an interview with The American Journal of Managed Care^® ahead of the meeting, he said evaluation for support beyond inhalers should begin whenever treatment goals are not being met, whether that means persistent cough, mucus production, or shortness of breath, or recurrent exacerbations, which he called “sentinel events in the life of a COPD patient.”

On home noninvasive ventilation (NIV), Criner said patients with persistent hypercapnia after hospital discharge should be considered for the therapy if the goal is to reduce readmissions. He attributed the varying results across NIV trials mainly to patient selection.

“Those who suffer from chronic hypercapnia associated with hypoventilation…are the patients that respond the best,” he said.

High-flow nasal therapy, which is used in the hospital, has not been firmly shown to benefit patients as an outpatient, Criner said. However, there is 1 clinical trial in the US and 2 outside of it that are testing its long-term benefits.

He added that conversations about goals of care should be individualized but are warranted for patients with severe resting hypoxemia, hypoxemia with desaturation, chronic hypercapnia, or frequent hospitalizations despite maximal therapy.

Tackling the Underdiagnosis Gap

Friday morning’s session, “Moving to a Proactive Approach to the Diagnosis, Assessment, and Management of COPD,” takes on who is being missed with Alvar Agusti, MD, of Hospital Clinic de Barcelona and University of Barcelona in Spain, discussing underdiagnosis of COPD, and Shawn Aaron, MD, of the University of Ottawa, on identifying individuals in the community with COPD.¹

The themes echo the 2026 GOLD Report, which expanded its section on case-finding and recognizes that even a single exacerbation meaningfully raises the probability of recurrent events.² Thursday afternoon’s “Characterizing Exacerbations in COPD,” moderated by Jadwiga A. Wedzicha, MD, of the National Heart and Lung Institute at the Imperial College London, will ask “Why the Need?” and whether the Rome proposal works, and will address what testing is needed in the emergency department or hospital. That evening, a session on multimorbidity will examine the cardiovascular and respiratory clusters.¹

Mucus, Neutrophils, and Emerging Targets

The main program opens Thursday at 2 pm with a deep dive into the burden of mucus plugging in patients with moderate to severe COPD, the role of type 2 cytokines in mucus plugs, and treatments to target mucus to improve outcomes.

Friday’s sessions look further ahead. One focuses on neutrophilic inflammation, including elastase inhibition and dipeptidyl peptidase 1 inhibitor treatment in bronchiectasis, including patients with COPD. The final session, “Targeting Pathways in COPD: A Glimpse Into the Future?” will cover airway immunology in the biologic era, lessons from asthma on type 2 inflammation, and targeting epithelial alarmins.

2027 GOLD Report Preview

Friday afternoon will focus on updates to global medical strategies with the “2027 GOLD Report and Review/COPD Call to Action.”¹ Attendees will get a first look at the adjustments shaping the upcoming 2027 GOLD Report.

References

1. Program agenda. 2026 GOLD International COPD Conference. Accessed November 3, 2026. https://www.goldcopdconference.com/event/f0b415ce-234c-40cc-bf3b-5d4e9ef318f0/agenda
2. Azhar M. GOLD 2026 updates in global strategy for diagnosis, management, and prevention of COPD. CHEST Physician. Accessed November 3, 2026. https://www.chestphysician.org/gold-2026-updates-in-global-strategy-for-diagnosis-management-and-prevention-of-copd/