In this episode of Let's Talk Lungs, host Bethany is joined by Dr. Erika Penz, Associate Professor and Division Head of Respirology and Sleep Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan. Bethany and Dr. Penz discuss quitting smoking while managing lung disease, the positive impacts of quitting on your health, cessation strategies, and available supports. 

About our episode guest:

Erika Penz is Associate Professor and Division Head of Respirology and Sleep Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan. She is Physician Co-Lead for the COPD Provincial Clinical Network.

Dr Penz’s main research focus includes burden of disease studies, with a focus on lung health, including tobacco cessation, effects of vaping, and management of severe asthma and COPD. She is co-author of the 2023 CTS Position Statement on Climate Change and Choice of Inhalers for Patients with Respiratory Disease as well as the 2023 CTS Guideline on Pharmacotherapy in Patients with Stable COPD and 2025 CTS Guideline on Alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency targeted testing and augmentation therapy.

She is Associate Editor for COPD at the CHEST Journal. She also serves as Past President for the Canadian Thoracic Society and is an Advisory Board member of the Institute for Cancer Research of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.