During the European Respiratory Society (ERS) Congress 2026 in Barcelona, Phil Taverner officially took up the role of Chair of the European Lung Foundation (ELF), with Helen Parks beginning her term in the new ELF Vice Chair role.
The appointment marks the end of Dimitris Kontopidis’ three-year mandate and the beginning of a new chapter for ELF, as we continue our work to ensure that people affected by lung conditions can help shape the decisions that impact their lives.
Phil joins the role with a background in community work, public health research and patient advocacy. Living with asthma for more than 60 years and more recently diagnosed with bronchiectasis and heart disease, he has been involved in ELF activities for a number of years, including patient involvement projects, the Asthma Patient Advisory Group and the Air Pollution and Climate Change Working Group.
Helen brings extensive experience in patient advocacy and public engagement. After being hospitalised with COVID-19 in 2020, she became involved in ELF as a patient representative contributing to COVID-19 guidelines. Since then, she has served on the ELF Council, chaired the United Patient Advisory Group (UPAG) and represented the patient voice at conferences and events across Europe.
A former teacher from Belfast, Helen is particularly passionate about helping patients influence decisions about their care and encouraging more young people to become involved in advocacy and lung health initiatives.
Together, Phil and Helen will work alongside the ELF Council, Patient Advisory Groups and patient organisations across Europe to guide the ELF’s work over the coming years. This will be very much led by the new ELF Strategy 2026-2029, which the Chairs have co-developed with the ELF community over the last few months.
As one leadership team takes over, ELF would also like to thank Dimitris for his dedication and passion over the past three years.
Dimitris became ELF Chair in 2023, becoming the first person with cystic fibrosis to hold the position. Throughout his mandate, he championed the idea that people living with lung conditions should not simply be consulted but actively involved in shaping healthcare and research.
His Chair’s Campaign focused on lung transplantation, bringing together patients and healthcare professionals to highlight the challenges people face before and after transplant, while drawing attention to differences in access and support across Europe.
His term also saw the continued growth of ELF’s patient engagement activities, the development of ELF Connect and stronger involvement of patient representatives across many areas of work.
Dimitris also ensure that patient partnerships were high on the ERS agenda – being adopted as part of their recent strategic review and resulting in the theme of this year’s ERS Congress in Barcelona being: United for better breathing: partnership between patients, clinicians and researchers.
Reflecting on his time as Chair, Dimitris said:
“At the heart of everything we do remains a simple principle: people living with lung conditions should help shape the research, care and information that affects their lives.”
He added:
“Every breath matters. Together, we are making each one count.”
Over the next three years, Phil hopes to shine a light on a group that often remains in the background: unpaid and family carers.
Across Europe, millions of people provide day-to-day support to family members and friends living with long-term health conditions. Their contribution is often essential, yet their experiences and needs can be overlooked.
Phil’s campaign will work with ELF networks and patient groups to understand better the carers’ experiences and highlight the role they play in supporting people living with lung conditions.
Speaking earlier this year about patient involvement, Phil reflected:
“Scientists and clinicians are experts in their fields, but patients are the only experts in their own lives. The best outcomes come when all this expertise is brought together.”
As Phil and Helen begin their new roles, they are looking forward to working with the wider ELF community to build on the strong foundations already in place and continue ensuring that people affected by lung conditions remain at the centre of ELF’s work.
If you or your organisation would like to find out how you can work closer with the new ELF leadership then please do get in touch to have a discussion pippa.powell@euroepanlung.org
