Descanso Physician Receives Humanitarian Award

(NORTHBROOK, IL, January 7, 2010)—Henri G. Colt, MD, FCCP, of Descanso, CA, has been nationally recognized for his humanitarian efforts on a community-based lung cancer awareness and smoking cessation program, located in Bolivia.

The CHEST Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), recently announced the winners of the 2009 D. Robert McCaffree, MD, Master FCCP Humanitarian Awards, at The Foundation's Making a Difference Awards Dinner, held in October in San Diego, CA. Dr. Colt was one of four recipients of The CHEST Foundation's $5,000 Humanitarian Awards, which are given on behalf of medical professionals who volunteer their time and expertise to improve the health of communities and people in need worldwide.

"These physicians and their projects leave lasting impressions on the communities in which they serve," said John C. Alexander, Jr., MD, FCCP, President of The CHEST Foundation. "The CHEST Foundation commends their efforts and is proud to recognize and support this year's award recipients."

Dr. Colt, a physician at the University of California Irvine Medical Center, is the project creator, medical director, and member of the project team. His primary objective is to provide chest physicians, primary care doctors, and allied health-care professionals serving underserved rural populations with information on lung cancer diagnosis, prevention, and smoking cessation. A second objective is to deliver a flexible bronchoscope and provide specific bronchoscopy-related instruction to a group of eight chest physicians and surgeons working at the Instituto Nacional del Tórax, a large tertiary care public hospital in La Paz, Bolivia. The long-term objective is to empower each community, so its own social network is created for smoking cessation campaigns in schools and general medicine facilities.

Established in 1998, The CHEST Foundation D. Robert McCaffree, MD, Master FCCP Humanitarian Awards program encourages volunteer service by ACCP members to improve the health of individuals and communities through advocacy, direct patient care, and/or patient education activities. In addition to honoring the recipient, The CHEST Foundation also grants a monetary award to the organization each recipient supports.

The CHEST Foundation was created in 1996 as the philanthropic arm of the ACCP and seeks to improve lung health for patients and communities through education focused on public health issues. The ACCP represents 17,500 members who provide clinical pulmonary, critical care, sleep, and cardiothoracic patient care in the United States and throughout the world. The mission of the ACCP is to promote the prevention and treatment of diseases of the chest through leadership, education, research, and communication. For more information about The CHEST Foundation, please visit The Foundation's Web site at www.chestfoundation.org.

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Contact:
Jennifer Stawarz, (847) 498-8306