The 2014 International Conference on Environment and Respiratory Disease (ICERD 2014) was kicked off at the academic report hall on the 30th floor of the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University on the morning of November 7, 2014, hosted by the State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, the department of allergic reaction of Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Disease and the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University. The conference lasted two days. On November 9, the second Learning Class of Diagnosis and Treatment of Allergic Disease was held. The theme of the conference was the impacts of urban and rural environment on the morbidity and prognosis of allergic diseases and the impacts of atmospheric pollutants such as PM2.5 and SO2 to respiratory disease. The contents widely covered the incidence rates of allergic diseases and respiratory diseases, rural and urban environmental factors, characteristics of immunity development and differentiation of rural and urban children in early contact with different environments, early intervention of respiratory and allergic diseases, exploration of preventive and therapeutic measures.

The conference has invited a batch of internationally eminent experts in the fields of immunity and respiratory disease to speak, including Professor Zhong Nanshan, an academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering, Professor Jean Bousquet, the chairman of GINA, the founder of ARIA, the chairman of the CARD, Professor Gary Wong, the executive member of Global Asthma Initiative, a member of the Steering Committee of ISAAC and a professor of Chinese University of Hong Kong, Professor Erika von Mutius, the principal of the asthma and allergic reaction research team of the University of Munich Germany, and Professor Donata Vercelli, the deputy director of American Arizona Respiratory Disease Center and director of Arizona Complex Disease Biological Center.

The conference was crowded by active audience and the attendees feel refreshed and benefited. After the conference, the speakers and the peers in the conference had a wide and in-depth communication, which laid a foundation for future cooperation and exchange.