Patient support group leader Laurel Eiler greets guests at the World Bronchiectasis Day gathering July 1, 2026. (photo by Donn Jones)
By: Paul Govern
The Vanderbilt Health NTM (nontuberculous mycobacteria) and Bronchiectasis Center, a program of the Vanderbilt Lung Institute, hosted a gathering July 1 in the lobby at Langford Auditorium in observance of World Bronchiectasis Day
Estimated to affect 350,000 to 500,000 adults in the United States, bronchiectasis is a chronic lung disease where airways (bronchi) become permanently damaged, widened and scarred. The disease leaves patients more prone to lung infections, including from NTM
Launched in 2023, the NTM and Bronchiectasis Center is led by Christina Fiske, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases, and James Tolle, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Allergy, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. Other speakers included patient support group leader Laurel Eiler, who spoke about her experience with NTM and bronchiectasis and how the center has helped her
In 2025, the center became one of 49 U.S. care centers recognized by the Bronchiectasis and NTM Association
