John W. Walsh, president and co-founder of the COPD Foundation, was inducted into the COPD Hall of Fame last month at the COPD8 Conference in Birmingham, England. 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,” said Walsh. “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 from early onset emphysema before Alpha-1 was identified as a genetic risk factor or COPD.
Also inducted into the COPD Hall of Fame were Roberto Rodriguez-Roisin, MD, PhD, professor of medicine at the University of Barcelona, Spain; and Yoshinosuke Fukuchi, MD, PhD, professor and head of the department of respiratory medicine, Juntendo University, Tokyo, Japan.
Source: The COPD Foundation
