PHA 2026: Connecting the Community from Across Town and Around the Globe

When Desiree St. Cyr and Cassandra Kelly heard that PHA 2026 was coming to Dallas, they started ordering hats, boots and sparkly Western-themed jewelry.

“We just try to have fun everywhere,” said St. Cyr, who was diagnosed with PH in 2024.

Besties St. Cyr and Kelly came to PHA 2026 from Indialantic, Florida, where they both work in the nonprofit world helping people experiencing mental illness or homelessness. They embraced the “PHixin’ to Find a Cure” theme with new Western wear outfits each day. But they also came to PHA 2026 with a purpose: to learn about PH treatments and advancements, meet other patients and caregivers and get involved in PHA.

“I didn’t realize how many different types (of PH) there were,” Kelly said. “It’s been really interesting to learn those kinds of things. And now I even know specifically more about (St. Cyr’s) type.”

PHA 2026 International PH Conference and Scientific Sessions attracted nearly 1,000 attendees from every state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and 57 countries. Attendees included longtime thrivers and newly diagnosed patients, spouses, parents, children and health care professionals.

First-time attendees included Karina and Brandon Robbins, who learned about the conference from the PHA Pediatric Facebook Group. They “saw a lot of families raving about it” and decided to apply for scholarships with encouragement from their doctor, Stephanie Handler.

The Robbinses brought their young family, including 1-year-old daughter Kinsley, who receives PH treatment through a Remodulin (treprostinil) pump, and her older brother and sister.

When they arrived, the older children were excited about participating in the Kids Room, which included a visit to the Dallas Children’s Museum. “Our 3-year-old was running around and doing a little bit like, ‘We’re going on a field trip. We’re going on a field trip,’ ” Brandon said.

Callista Greeff, chair of PHA South Africa, also was among the first-time attendees. Greeff, whose son has PH, flew 22 hours from Cape Town to participate in a reception for international attendees.

“My favorite thing has been meeting patients and organizations from all over the world, connecting with stakeholders globally, who are the loveliest people you will ever meet,” she said. “And that has made it really rich and wonderful for me to be here.”

Joyti Bajpai, MD, from King George’s Medical University in India, presented an abstract of her research in the poster hall. As a first-time attendee, she wanted to learn how health care professionals in the U.S. deal with such a complicated disease.

I’m so happy to be here. I really want to come again and again and be part of this beautiful pulmonary hypertension community and PHA.

Joyti Bajpai, MD

Also traveling from far afield was Rebekah Calverley, who has PH and runs PHA Australia. She first attended in 2018 and was thrilled to see newcomers.

“It can be a lot if it’s your first conference … but the connections and the networking that you do is incredible,” she said, noting she especially appreciates meeting patient advocates from all over the world.

“These kinds of international conferences where our voices come together, it empowers us to go back to our own countries and say yes, it’s not just us fighting this alone,” Calverley said. “Everyone is going through it together and I’m really not alone in it,” she said.

Other returning attendees included cardiologist Eric Fenstad, who was presenting an abstract about PH in rural Minnesota. Fenstad, who has been coming to PHA conferences since 2008 when he was a resident in training at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, thought his PH days were over when he finished his fellowship in 2015.

Then he started noticing a lot of people in the Brainerd area had really high right ventricular systolic pressures as he reviewed their echocardiograms. So he started trying to figure out why their pressures were so high.

“Fast forward about 12 years later, I’m now taking care of about 330 patients that have pulmonary hypertension of various types,” he said.

Health care professionals attended scientific sessions ranging from managing different types of PH in adults and children to new technology using AI, then joined patients and caregivers for general sessions that provided nourishment, inspiration and hope.

“I have never been more positive about pulmonary vascular disease than I am now,” said Russel Hirsch, MD, pediatric cardiologist from New Orleans told the crowd at the Medical Update Dinner on Friday. “We’re on the cusp.”

Thekla McGinley, who first attended in 2016, marked her 10-year conference anniversary by speaking at two sessions. In one, she demonstrated how she administers her intravenous PAH medication.

For her, coming to PHA 2026 was all about making new friends and creating lasting bonds.

“There is absolutely nothing like meeting someone else who has the same disease and understands the types of feelings and emotions, and even the symptoms that you’re going through,” she said. “You can be so honest here. Having that connection makes you feel not alone. You need that support.”