Board of Directors elects new Chair
The USCC is pleased to announce the results of its recent election for Board of Directors. The new Board members, elected to a three-year term, are David Mannino, MD, and Marc Carrel, JD. Current Board member John Linnell was re-elected to a three-year term.
Following the election, the Board of Directors met and elected Dr. Mannino as Chair. Current Board Treasurer Joel Africk, JD was re-elected to another two-year term as Treasurer. Board Vice-Chair Valerie Chang, JD and Secretary Goldia Brown, MS as the Coalition’s Executive Officers.
David Mannino, MD, is currently the Medical Director at the COPD Foundation. He has a long history of research and engagement in respiratory health. Dr. Mannino was a founding member of the US COPD Coalition, and previously served as Co-chair of the Board of Directors.
Dr. Mannino has over 350 publications and serves as an Associate Editor or Editorial Board member for the following journals: American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Chest, Thorax, European Respiratory Journal, and the Journal of the COPD Foundation. He was also a coauthor of the Surgeon General’s Report on Tobacco in 2008 and 2014.
Marc Carrel, JD is President & Chief Executive Officer of Breathe Southern California and the Emphysema Foundation of America.
Marc assumed these dual roles in 2017 after working on air quality and clean technology issues for nearly a decade at the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD), Southern California’s clean air agency. He led their environmental justice programs, conceiving and developing the agency’s Environmental Justice Community Partnership initiative, as well as overseeing their first three annual environmental justice conferences. He also directed community outreach and public education programs including an annual series of briefings for civic leaders, government officials, and other community stakeholders on the impact of air pollution on public health.
Longtime Board Chair Sam Giordano, MBA, RRT, FAARC and Board member and former Board Officer Karen Dietemeyer are no longer on the Board of Directors as their terms expired. “On behalf of the entire US COPD Coalition, I want to express our deepest appreciation for the time and effort that Sam and Karen gave to the Coalition and the patients we try to represent”, said Executive Director Keith Siegel, MBA, RRT, CPFT, FAARC. “While I will miss working closely with Sam and Karen, I am really looking forward to having Marc Carrell and Dr. Mannino on our Board.
To see a more complete bio of Dr. Mannino, Marc Carrel, and the full Board, click here.