News
Foundation president elected to board of National Health Council, appointed to NIDDK
WASHINGTON — John Walsh, president, CEO, and co-founder of the Alpha-1 Foundation, was recently elected to the board of the National Health Council (NHC). Walsh was chair of the NHC in 2005-2006.
The NHC brings together all segments of the health community to provide a united voice for the more than 133 million people with chronic diseases and disabilities and their family caregivers. Made up of more than 100 national health-related organizations and businesses, the NHC’s core membership includes approximately 50 of the nation’s leading patient advocacy groups, which control its governance.
Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sibelius also recently appointed Walsh to serve on the National Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases Advisory Council, which advises the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disorders (NIDDK).
Walsh is also the president, a co-founder and member of the COPD Foundation’s Board of Directors.
Walsh serves as a member of several other voluntary health agency committees and governmental advisory committees. He was appointed to serve on the NIH Director’s Council of Public Representatives. He is currently on the NIH Council of Councils; he served three terms on the Advisory Committee on Blood Safety and Availability (1997-2006).
He is past chairperson of the American Thoracic Society Public Advisory Roundtable (PAR), was the presidential appointee of the board of directors of the American Thoracic Society (2004-2005) and was trustee on the Foundation of the American Thoracic Society (2006-2008).
Walsh is a co-founder of the Plasma Users Coalition, was on the Advisory Board of the Center for Genetic Research Ethics And Law (CGREAL) at Case Western Reserve University, serves on the executive committee of the US COPD Coalition, and is past chairman of the International COPD Coalition (2006-2008).
