Our Team
Board of Directors
The COPD Foundation is proud to have such a diverse Board with Members that come from various backgrounds, all of which bring their unique specialties to help progress the common cause: encourage, empower, and engage individuals with COPD in order to improve the qualities of life of all those who are affected by the disease. Members of the Board include researchers, physicians, health care activists, and individuals with COPD, all of which help guide the Foundation’s efforts. Members serve three-year terms on the Board, but also serve on the various Foundation committees. Below, you will find a list of the 2008 Members of the Board of Directors, with their short biography.
John W. Walsh
John W. Walsh is the co-founder, President and CEO of the Alpha-1 Foundation in Miami, Florida, and co-founder and President of AlphaNet, Inc.—a not-for-profit disease management services company providing comprehensive care exclusively for individuals with Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency. He served three terms on the Advisory Committee on Blood Safety and Availability (1997-2006), is Immediate-Past Chairperson of the National Health Council’s Board of Directors (2005-2006), he is Past Chair and a member of the American Thoracic Society Public Advisory Roundtable (PAR) and was the Presidential Appointee (2004-2005) of the American Thoracic Society’s Board of Directors. He is a member of the American Lung Association National Action Panel on Lung Disease, is on the Advisory Board of the Center for Genetic Research Ethics And Law (CGREAL) at Case Western Reserve University, is a Trustee on the Foundation of the American Thoracic Society (2006-2008) is a member of the US COPD Coalition Executive Committee, Immediate Past-Chair of the International COPD Coalition (2006-2008), co-founder, and member of the COPD Foundation Board of Directors and serves as President. He regularly testifies before Congress and advisory groups as a patient advocate. Mr. Walsh was diagnosed with the rare genetic disorder, Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency (AATD), in 1989.
Ab Rees
Ab Rees is a retired Senior Executive of several Fortune 500 Companies, most recently from Railworks Corporation, a $500 million revenue Railroad construction, products and services company. Mr. Rees has 35 years of broad, international and domestic general management experience with major achievements in productivity, cost reductions, restructurings, mergers and acquisitions, business growth and customer service. Mr. Rees holds a B.S. in Business from the University of Central Arkansas and a degree in Program for Management Development (PMD) from Harvard Business School. He is a member of numerous industry, joint ventures, and in-house Board of Directors. Mr. Rees was also diagnosed with Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency, and currently serves as a member on the Board of Directors of AlphaNet, Inc.
Byron Thomashow, M.D.
Dr. Thomashow is a Clinical Professor of Medicine at Columbia University Medical Center and Medical Director of the Jo-Ann LeBuhn Center for Chest Disease at New York Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. In addition he serves as chairman of the Respiratory Council of the NewYork-Presbyterian Healthcare System and has been and remains actively involved in multiple national research studies.
Chip Gatchell
As an engraver and artisan, he won commissions for major monuments all over the Northeast. COPD eventually forced him to seek a second career as a Web designer and computer consultant. A leading patient advocate, he co-founded and chairs COPDInternational.com, which offers interactive support and information about the disease.
Collin Scarborough
He was formerly partner in charge of operations research for KPMG’s management consulting practice, and was a cofounder and director of Technology Management Systems (TMI), a joint venture with Citibank and MIT faculty. Following the sale of TMI he has continued his career in systems analysis and automated systems for investment management and banking as a consultant for major financial institutions. Currently retired, Mr. Scarborough has served as a trustee for several non profit organizations and is a past member of the President’s Circle of the National Academy of Sciences. Most recently, he has founded the RH Scarborough Bronchiectasis Research Fund under auspices of the COPD Foundation.
David M. Mannino, M.D.
He served as the chief science officer of the Centers for Disease Control’s Air Pollution and Respiratory Health Branch. He is currently associate professor of medicine in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. An active member of, and advisor to, several professional organizations, he is also an award-winning researcher, focusing on COPD, asthma, and other lung diseases.
Donald Gray
Gerard M. Turino, M.D.
He founded and currently directs the James P. Mara Center for Lung Disease at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital in New York City, where he is also director emeritus of the Department of Medicine. He is also the John H. Keating Sr. professor of medicine (emeritus) at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. In addition to his work with several health care organizations as a board member and consultant, he is past president of the American Thoracic Society and was awarded the Trudeau Medal of ATS and ALA. His research interests include the mechanisms of lung matrix injury and lung matrix remodeling.
Gordon E. Cadwgan, Jr., Ph.D.
Gordon E. Cadwgan, Jr., Ph.D. has the most common known genetic risk factor for COPD known as Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency. He has attended most of the meetings of the Alpha-1 Association since its inception. Mr. Cadwgan also served on the ELSI Working Group for a year from August 2003 until August 2004 and he and his wife Ruth are members of the Alpha-1 Foundation’s Community In-Reach program. He received his Bachelors degree from Brown University in 1966 and holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry. He worked for Dupont during his career and is now retired. Mr. Cadwgan is a Trustee of the Board of Directors of his family’s charitable foundation.
James D. Crapo, M.D.
He is Professor of Medicine at the National Jewish Medical and Research Center and the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver, Colorado. He served as Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs and Chair of the Department of Medicine at National Jewish from 1996 to 2004. Dr. Crapo received his M.D. from the University of Rochester. Prior to moving to National Jewish in 1996, Dr. Crapo spent over 15 years as the Chief of the Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Division at Duke University Medical Center. Throughout his professional career he has been active in numerous professional societies, including service on the NHLBI Board of Extramural Advisors and serving as President of the American Thoracic Society. Dr. Crapo maintains a large research program focused on the role of oxidants and antioxidants in the causation and treatment of diseases.
James K. Stoller, M.D., M.S.
As professor of medicine and vice-chairman of the Division of Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, he heads the respiratory therapy section in the Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine there. His research interests include Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency and respiratory care health services. An active clinician, he cares for many Alpha-1 patients.
Stephen I. Rennard, M.D.
He is Larson Professor of Medicine in the Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Section of the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha and courtesy professor of the Department of Pathology and Microbiology. In addition to his activities with government, professional societies, and scholarly journals, he maintains an active program of clinical investigation in COPD and smoking cessation. He also maintains a program of basic research in the mechanisms of lung tissue repair and remodeling.
Wayne E. (Chip) Withers Jr.
He is the president of Withers Transfer & Storage of Coral Gables, FL; Withers Worldwide Forwarders, Inc.; and Withers Transportation Systems. A fourth generation Miamian, he is serving his third term as a Coral Gables commissioner, as well as staying active on the boards of many local and civic charitable organizations.