The European Pulmonary Fibrosis Federation (EU-PFF) is pleased to announce the appointment of John K. Solheim (Norway) as our new President and Chantal Vandendungen (Belgium) as our new Secretary. Both John and Chantal have served on the Board of Directors. Their extensive experience and commitment to our mission will provide invaluable continuity and leadership as they step into these new roles.
We would also like to extend our gratitude to the outgoing President, Steve Jones (UK), and the outgoing Secretary, Jean-Michel Fourrier (France). They have both shown exceptional dedication over the last four years in advancing our goals of promoting patient involvement in pharmaceutical clinical trials, to speed up the delivery of new pulmonary fibrosis treatments and raising awareness among the public and healthcare professionals about this devastating disease. The organisation deeply appreciates their vital contributions, which have left a lasting impact and helped drive us forward. We are happy to announce that they will continue as Directors, with Steve also joining Carlos Lines Millán (Spain) as one of our two Emeritus Presidents.
Alongside these four, the EU-PFF Board will have the following members, Radostina Getova (Bulgaria), Gottfried Huss (Germany) and Stefano Pavanello (Italy). Together, they spearhead the Federation’s efforts to raise awareness of pulmonary fibrosis on political and public levels, influence healthcare policy, and drive treatment and research best practices. Their steadfast support has been crucial to our progress, ensuring a seamless transition and sustained momentum.
As we welcome the new appointments, we look forward to expanding our activities in public awareness and policy change. The future holds great promise as we advocate for improved treatments, support groundbreaking research, and champion our members’ endeavours across Europe.
“𝐴𝑠 𝑛𝑒𝑤𝑙𝑦 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡, 𝐼 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑘 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑣𝑜𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑓𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒. 𝐴𝑙𝑠𝑜, 𝐼 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑘 𝑆𝑡𝑒𝑣𝑒 𝐽𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐵𝑜𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑖𝑡𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑑𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑜 𝑓𝑎𝑟. 𝑊𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑓𝑖𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝐸𝑢𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑒, 𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑙𝑦 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝 𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑒. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 21 𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑟𝑔𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑠𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 17 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑎 𝑝𝑜𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑓 𝑎 𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒.” – John K. Solheim.
