New members of the ELF Council and ELF Patient Advisory Committee

We are pleased to welcome new members to two of our key governing bodies.

Picture: Marta Almagro (top left); Liam Galvin, European Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis and Related Disorders Federation (top right); Jack Richardson, SarcoidosisUK (bottom left); Stanislav Kos, Czech Civic Association Against Lung Diseases (bottom right)

New ELF Council member: Marta Almagro 

Firstly, we are happy to announce that Marta Almagro has joined the ELF Council, taking over from Kjeld Hansen, whose mandate has now finished.

The Council is ELF’s main governing body, and is responsible for our work plan, activities and financial control. 

Marta, who has bronchiectasis, is very active within our Bronchiectasis Patient Priorities project and EMBARC, a pan-European network committed to promoting clinical research and education in bronchiectasis. She is also part of the European Patient Ambassador Programme patient advisory group.

We would like to take this opportunity to formally welcome Marta to the Council – and to thank Kjeld for all of his hard work and enthusiasm during his term.

Find out more about Marta in an interview we did with her in 2016.

New members of the Patient Advisory Committee

We are delighted to welcome five new members to the ELF Patient Advisory Committee. Representing a broad range of European countries and lung conditions, the new members will bring valuable experience in patient involvement, advocacy and education.

These new members help to increase the representation from rare lung conditions and techniques, including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, sarcoidosis, pulmonary hypertension and lung transplantation, as well as adding a representative from the Czech Republic for the first time.

We wish a warm welcome to the following new members of the Committee:

• Associação de Transplantados Pulmonares de Portugal (Association of Lung Transplant Patients of Portugal)
• Czech Civic Association Against Lung Diseases
• European Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis and Related Disorders Federation
• Pulmonale Hypertensie Belgium (Pulmonary Hypertension Belgium)
• SarcoidosisUK

Joining 15 other patient organisations representing all lung conditions across Europe, members of the Patient Advisory Committee play a vital role in integrating the patient voice within ERS activities. We look forward to working with the newest Committee members alongside the wider ELF patient organisation network over the coming years.

Learn more about ELF’s organisational structure.