International Association of Breath Research Summer Symposium 2021 Conference Programme and Abstracts

In recent months breath research has focused strongly on the development and demonstration of tests for viral infection, and in particular the detection of COVID-19.

In June 2021 the International Association for breath research hosted an online global symposium addressing current developments in breath testing for COVID 19, and Standardisation issues in breath analysis cordinated jointly by Loughborouogh University and the University of Califormia Davis. Further, an exciting discovery on the early detection of rheumatoid arthritis through inflammatory markers in breath was presented.

The programme of talks was supported by an on-line poster event reporting on recent findings in: chronic liver disease; the Pseudomonas volatilome; chemometric processing of two dimensional gas chromatography-time of flight mass spectrometry breath data; the effect of the menstrual cycle on exhaled volatiles; the gastric cancer volatilome; breath testing for the early diagnosis of sclerosing cholangitis; the effect of high O₂ concentrations on proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry responses to important breath biomarkers; exhaled biomarkers for metabolic adaptation in type 1 diabetes mellitus; exhaled breath testing for colorectal cancer screening; breath tests for assessment of stroke-associated pneumonia; Valley fever volatilome in mice; and, assessment of the variability of volatile organic compound concentrations in clinical environments.

This report provides a snapshot on the state of play in breath research and presents relevant and useful recommendations and findings for the continued development of breath-based clinical measurements and fundamental research.