The International Association for Breath Research (IABR) was founded in May 2005 in Vienna. The Editorial Board consists of leading researchers in this field including the current chairman Anton Amann (Innsbruck). Its aims are:
- to promote scientific research and development in the field of breath analysis. In particular, the IABR strives for the development of analytical techniques, sampling procedures and standardization of measurements.
- to encourage the development of breath analysis for clinical diagnosis and therapeutic monitoring.
- to support young researchers in the field of breath analysis and encourage scientific exchanges and collaboration between different research groups.
- to organize annual conferences on breath analysis. To date, meetings have taken place at Keele (June 2003), Dornbirn (September 2004), Innsbruck (May 2005) and Prague (September 2006). The next conference will be held at Cleveland in 2007.
IABR publishes a newsletter twice a year, the primary objectives of which are to publicize and disseminate information on recent developments in breath analysis, air the ideas and views of its members, and post notices on forthcoming events.
A Task Force on Breath Sampling has been founded by IABR to consider breath sampling methodologies and to identify standardized breath sampling procedures, which is headed by Jochen Schubert (Rostock), Nandor Marczin (London), Margaret O’Hara (Birmingham UK), and Terence Risby (Baltimore). In addition, IABR is preparing an internet-accessible database of volatile substances, which for each substance includes its appropriate physico-chemical parameters and its importance for medical diagnosis and therapeutic monitoring. This database also includes volatile substances that are produced by bacteria in the gut and information on specific volatiles present in urine and faeces.
IABR has recently founded the Journal of Breath Research: Volatiles for Medical Diagnoses, to be published by the Institute of Physics (IOP, Bristol, UK), the first issue of which will appear in mid-2007. This journal is a joint undertaking with the International Society for Breath Odour Research (ISBOR). |
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