COPD Foundation’s John W. Walsh Inducted into COPD Hall of Fame
WASHINGTON, D.C. – July 20, 2012 – The COPD Foundation (COPDF) is pleased to announce that John W. Walsh, president and co-founder, was inducted into the COPD Hall of Fame on June 20, 2012, at the COPD8 Conference in Birmingham, UK. The first non-physician/scientist to be inducted, Walsh is recognized for his efforts to organize and mobilize the COPD patient community and promote greater awareness about the disease.
“I am deeply honored by this recognition,” Walsh says. “I can only accept on behalf of the 220 million individuals with COPD worldwide as an affirmation of the critical importance of the partnership between the scientific and clinical community and the patient community.”
Walsh dedicated his acceptance in memory of his mother, Helen Chase Walsh, who died at the age of 46 before Alpha-1 was identified as a genetic risk factor for COPD.
COPD8 was the 8th of a series of international conferences on COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) held every two years. The conference covered everything from clinical practice to what COPD patients want and need to help cope with their disease. During the ceremony, which included international clinical and research experts from around the world, Walsh and Dame Helena Shovelton of the British Lung Foundation presented the patient viewpoint of life with COPD. Also inducted into the COPD Hall of Fame were Roberto Rodriguez-Roisin, M.D., Ph.D., professor of medicine at the University of Barcelona, Spain; and Yoshinosuke Fukuchi, M.D., Ph.D., professor and head of the Department of Respiratory Medicine, Juntendo University, Tokyo, Japan.
Walsh adds, “Jim Hogg, Neil Pride, Sonia Buist, Rob Senior, Nic Anthonisen, Gordon Snider and Gerry Turino and my fellow inductees this year – all are such incredible pioneers of pulmonary medicine. It is an honor to be inducted into the Hall of Fame with these prestigious individuals.”