Burn Pits 360 Co-Founders to Speak at American Thoracic Society's 2026 Conference; Jon Stewart to Join via Livestream

Le Roy and Rosie Torres to address pulmonologists and researchers at Sunday’s Terrorism and Inhalation Disasters Section Annual Meeting in Orlando

ORLANDO, FL, UNITED STATES, May 14, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Burn Pits 360, the Veteran-led advocacy organization at the center of the nation’s fight against military toxic exposure, will be represented at the American Thoracic Society’s International Conference 2026 in Orlando, Florida.

Co-founders Le Roy and Rosie Torres will speak Sunday, May 17, as part of the ATS Terrorism and Inhalation Disasters (TID) Section Annual Meeting, joining fellow Veteran advocates Matt Erpelding, Gordon Peters, M.D., Dr. Anthony Szema and additional session participants. The session will run from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Eastern Time at the Orange County Convention Center.

The meeting will open with a solemn and patriotic ceremony with colors posted by the Florida State Police, honoring the service and sacrifice of the Veterans whose stories anchor the work of this session.

Comedian and longtime Veterans’ health advocate Jon Stewart will join the section meeting via livestream. Stewart spent years pressing Congress to pass the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act — known as the PACT Act, which was signed into law in 2022. He has also been a vocal supporter of service members exposed at K-2 airbase in Uzbekistan and of 9/11 first responders battling inhalation-related illness.

“Let us not mistake progress for victory. The PACT Act opened the door — but millions of Veterans are still on the other side of it, sick, suffering, and waiting. Burn Pits 360 is building the blueprint that moves science, prevention, and screenings directly to our Veterans — because they cannot wait for the system to come to them. Standing here with ATS leaders, researchers, and the 9/11 community is what that blueprint looks like in practice. We are here to bridge the gap. And we will not stop until it is closed,” said Rosie Lopez-Torres, executive director and co-founder of Burn Pits 360.

Their participation comes amid renewed scientific attention to burn pit-related illness and significant progress in non-invasive imaging technology.

“I served this country. I came home sick, invisible to an employer and system that didn’t yet have the science to see what burn pit exposure had done to my body. Our Veterans never stopped fighting and neither did we. Today, at the American Thoracic Society, science has finally caught up to what our Veterans have always known. This moment belongs to every service member, every family, every advocate, who refused to be silent. The mission is not complete but today, we are one step closer,” said former Captain Le Roy Torres, co-founder of Burn Pits 360.

Burn Pits 360 operates an independent, Veteran-led registry that has informed implementation of the PACT Act and provides data to academic and clinical researchers studying post-deployment respiratory illness.

Veterans, service members and surviving family members exposed to military burn pits or other airborne hazards are encouraged to enroll in the Burn Pits 360 registry.

Members of the media covering ATS 2026 may request interviews with Burn Pits 360 leadership and on-site availability through the contact listed above.

Kalen Marie Cotto
KMC Digital for Burn Pits 360
+1 401-626-0468
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