We conclude this month’s newsletter by reporting an event that makes us all very proud. The following is a news bulletin released by the Harbor-UCLA Research and Education Institute (REI) and published in a number of newspapers and several medical journals, including the Journal of the American Medical Association. We would like to share it with you.

Richard Casaburi, Ph.D., M.D., has been approved as the first appointment to The Alvin Grancell-Mary Burns Research Chair in the Rehabilitative Sciences. The Harbor-UCLA Research & Education Institute's Executive Committee unanimously approved the appointment of Richard Casaburi, Ph.D., M.D., Professor and Chief, Division of Respiratory and Critical Care Physiology and Medicine at the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center on June 4, 2001. 

This five-year appointment marks the first-ever endowed chair at Harbor-UCLA Research & Education Institute (REI).  The endowment was made possible by Alvin Grancell, whose late wife suffered from the debilitating effects of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), though a number of other individuals have contributed and fundraising to support this research Chair continues.

As Vice President of the Pulmonary Education and Research Foundation for the past 15 years, Grancell is committed to the promulgation of research in chronic pulmonary disease, and rehabilitation of patients affected by COPD.  He designated the Institute as benefactor of the endowment based on his desire to facilitate COPD research at REI, which maintains a large and active research base in chronic pulmonary diseases.  These diseases include asthma, bronchitis and emphysema, which afflict over 15 million Americans every year. The Chair is also named for Mary Burns, RN to honor her seminal role in developing the practice of pulmonary rehabilitation.