Dr. Buist is Professor Emerita of Medicine, Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine at OHSU. She earned her MB.ChB medical degree in 1964 from the University of St. Andrews Medical School in Scotland and an M.D (PhD equivalent) from the University of Dundee, also in Scotland. She was on the Editorial Board of the New England Journal of Medicine and was President of the American Thoracic Society (ATS). She started and for 25 years was the Director of the ATS Methods in Epidemiologic, Clinical & Operations Research (MECOR) Program which trains pulmonary physicians in clinical & epidemiologic research in resource-poor countries. The MECOR Program has over 2500 graduates in Latin America, Turkey, Africa, Indonesia, Vietnam, China and India. She is currently Scientific Director of the Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease (BOLD) Study that is creating a database of COPD prevalence and its risk factors worldwide. Other research relates to exploring the link between asthma and obesity and possible approaches to the primary prevention of chronic lung disease