The CHEST Foundation Celebrates its 20th Anniversary

September 14, 2016

In 1935, Murray Kornfeld’s vision of patients and clinicians working together to advance global lung health inspired the founding of the American College of Chest Physicians. We embraced that same vision 20 years ago when the CHEST Foundation was established as the charitable foundation of the American College of Chest Physicians. Through CHEST Foundation-supported programs, CHEST’s 19,000+ members engage in clinical research, participate in community service, and deliver patient education, advancing the lung health of millions of patients in local communities around the world.

Today, as we celebrate our 20th anniversary as the CHEST Foundation, we’d like to say a huge thank you to all our volunteers, donors, and staff who have served as champions for lung health, making the successes of the last 20 years possible!

1996
CHEST Foundation, founded by a strong group of motivated leaders, awards 30+ grants for clinical research, world health partnerships, lectures, and young investigators

1997

CHEST Foundation film A Physicians Perspective, highlighting end-of-life care, wins AMA Freddie Award 

1998
Women & Girls, Tobacco, & Lung Cancer Speaker’s Kit developed to target women and children in an anti-tobacco use campaign

1999
CHEST Foundation recognizes 12 winning humanitarian programs with the new Community Service Grant Honoring D. Robert McCaffree, MD, Master FCCP

2000
CHEST Foundation and Cultural Diversity in Medicine NetWork create Educational Guide on Lung Health for Elementary School Children 

2001
Ambassadors Group was founded to serve as health advocates, participating in educational programs on tobacco addiction and asthma care

2001
CHEST Foundation established a 9/11 Emergency Response Fund, collecting $75,000 to support a free smoking cessation program for FDNY

2002
First winner selected for new Distinguished Scholar program, developed to provide multiyear grants to CHEST members whose projects promised to impact clinical chest and critical care medicine

2002
CHEST Foundation and Eli Lilly and Company Foundation partnered to create Critical Care Family Assistance Program (CCFAP) to better engage family members during a loved one’s ICU stay

2003
Representatives from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) joined the CCFAP advisory team and assisted in the selection of additional program sites

2004
Following major tsumani in southeast Asia, CHEST Foundation set up a disaster relief fund, generating donations to care for victims and help rebuild a small fishing village in Sri Lanka

2005
After hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma, CHEST Foundation created Hurricane Relief—Beyond the First Response Matching Gift Fund, to support CHEST members in efforts to serve their patients

2006

“Ant E Tobacco” program and “Make the Choice: Tobacco or Health?” toolkits evolved, allowing CHEST members to reach students in elementary schools

2007
CHEST Foundation Case Competition established to encourage teams of students from local universities to develop sustainable organizational models to improve asthma diagnosis and treatment 

2008
CHEST Foundation supports AMA Alliance Screen-Out! Program,  changing the Motion Picture Association of America’s rating system so new movies showing smoking or tobacco use would be rated “R”

2009
Physicians Speaking For Humanity (PS4H) campaign initiated to appeal to physicians who lecture and/or attend pharmaceutical focus groups to donate their honorariums to the CHEST Foundation 

2010
C. Sola Olopade, MBBS, MPH, FCCP, won his second Humanitarian Award for his work to protect women and children in rural Nigeria from the hazards of exposure to the indoor pollution. Dr. Olopade continues humanitarian efforts in Africa, with funding from the NIH and United Nations Foundation. 

2011
CHEST Foundation hosts “OneBreath Luau” raising funds to support the launch of OneBreath.org, part of a new public-facing OneBreath campaign

2012
“Beyond Our Walls” capital campaign launched, seeking support for CHEST’s new Innovation, Simulation, and Training Center featuring a new model of educational delivery for chest medicine professionals

2013
CHEST Foundation offers first DVT Disease Awareness Month campaign, which inspired a greater effort in supporting similar campaigns delivering education on topics like COPD, asthma, lung cancer, and sarcoidosis 

2014

CHEST Foundation participated in the FDA’s first youth tobacco prevention campaign, “The Real Cost,” designed to educate at-risk youth about health dangers and quality of life impacts of tobacco use

2015
CHEST Foundation partnered with American Lung Association to develop up-to-date online patient education guides featuring easy-to-access information on 40 different lung health topics

2016
CHEST Foundation names “Champions Circle” annual fund giving club, “Founders Society” recognizing CHEST members for cumulative lifetime giving, and “Friends of the Foundation” for long-term industry partners

Chloe Daniels is the Programs & Communications Specialist for the CHEST Foundation.