COPD FOUNDATION, INC.
MIAMI, FLORIDA

Welcome to the COPD Foundation’s PRAXIS, a new initiative for healthcare providers, health systems administrators and policy makers created to improve COPD care across the continuum and reduce preventable hospital readmissions. We’re glad you have joined us. The mission of the COPD Foundation’s About The COPD Foundation About The COPD Foundation The COPD Foundation is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization created in 2004, with offices in Washington, D.C. and Miami, FL. The COPD Foundation was established to undertake initiatives that result in expanded services for COPD and improve the lives of individuals affected by COPD. The Foundation’s activities focus on achieving these results through research, education and advocacy programs that will lead to prevention, and someday, a cure for this disease. Currently, there are 18 members in the Board of Directors who volunteer their time and resources to helping advance the Foundation’s mission and purpose. Mission The COPD Foundation's mission is to prevent and cure Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and to improve the lives of all people affected by COPD. Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease is a preventable and treatable disease. The COPD Foundation has been established to speed innovations which will make treatments more effective and affordable, undertake initiatives that result in expanded services for COPD patients, and improve the lives of patients with COPD and related disorders through research and education that will lead to prevention and someday a cure for this disease. The COPD Foundation lost our beloved founder John W. Walsh on March 7, 2017 as a result of complications from an accident in 2016. John will be remembered not only for his pioneering work in the field of respiratory health but for his tireless efforts advocating for the millions worldwide with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. A veteran and successful businessman, when diagnosed along with his twin brother Fred with Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency, a rare and at that time little known genetic from of COPD, John did what he always did throughout his life; he looked for answers. His search led him to walk away from his business and cofound the Alpha-1 Foundation and later AlphaNet. In John’s work with Alpha-1, he discovered a much bigger and largely unrecognized community; those with COPD. Before that time, COPD was misunderstood, misdiagnosed, mistreated, underfunded and lacking adequate research. In 2004, John formed the COPD Foundation. Gathering together a dedicated team of professionals and fellow patients, John soon expanded the reach of the Foundation to include the COPD Digest, the Mobile Spirometry unit, the C.O.P.D. Information Line, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases: Journal of the COPD Foundation To increase funding for research and patient access, John established the COPD Advocacy program and the Congressional COPD Caucus. In an effort to bring new innovation to drug therapies, John established the Biomarkers Qualification Consortium, The COPDGene Study, The Patient-Powered Research Network and the Bronchiectasis Research Registry. With the popularity of social networks, John was the vision behind the COPD360 initiative in an effort to make the Foundation a “one stop shop” for everything COPD, resulting in the formation of COPD360social (an online COPD community), PRAXIS (a community allowing professionals to interact with each other and the patients they serve) along with a wealth of web-based information. At John’s encouragement, the COPD Foundation changed its mission statement to reflect an additional goal…a cure for COPD. Personal condolences may be sent to the Walsh Family by care of Randel Plant, COPD Foundation, 3300 Ponce de Leon Boulevard, Miami, FL 33134 The JW Walsh Fund to Cure COPD has been established to honor John W. Walsh, founder of the COPD Foundation. Often referring to himself as the “impatient patient”, John’s call to action was to educate, engage and empower. His contributions to empowerment of patients are unprecedented. The COPD Foundation remains strongly committed to John's vision. Through his initiatives, the Foundation’s work engaged in research to better understand the disease, educating patients and providers on how to improve care delivery and quality of life, and empowered a vibrant community for all affected. Programs developed under John’s leadership were far-reaching, covering all facets of a uniquely patient-centered approach. That approach is now recognized as being revolutionary. Funds from the JW Walsh Fund to Cure COPD will be used to achieve the mission that John set forth, ensuring his memory will live on and continue to uplift lives while searching for a cure for COPD. 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 Members of the Board of Directors, with their short biography. Stew Cogan is in his twelfth year as a full-time arbitrator and mediator, following twenty years practicing primarily corporate, business, and real estate law. Stew has been named a Super Lawyer by Washington Law & Politics each year from 1999 through 2007. He was also named one of the Best Lawyers in Seattle by Seattle Magazine in 2001, 2003, 2005, and 2007, and one of Puget Sound’s Top Business Lawyers by Seattle Business Monthly in 2006, 2007, and 2008. He is a frequent speaker on a variety of mediation and arbitration topics. He is a fellow of the invitation-only College of Commercial Arbitrators and a fellow of the invitation-only American College of Civil Trial Mediators. Stew serves on the boards of directors of Physicians Insurance, the dominant medical malpractice insurance carrier in the State of Washington, The Institute for Family Development, as well as the COPD Foundation.