BREATH Committees

The Management Board, Steering Committee, the Scientific and Economic Advisory Board and the Young Leaders are the committees set up at BREATH to ensure a successful scientific and economic cooperation.

 

Management Board

The Management Board consists of the directors of the MHH Departments of Respiratory Medicine and Infectious Disease, Paediatric Pneumology, HTTG and the Director of the Fraunhofer ITEM.

Prof. Dr. Gesine Hansen
Prof. Dr. Arjang Ruhparwar

Prof. Dr. Norbert Krug (ITEM)
Prof. Dr. Tobias Welte.

On January 24, 2023 Prof. Hansen, Prof. Krug and Prof. Welte were re-elected by the BREATH Faculty for their third term of three years.

 

Prof. Dr. Tobias Welte also occupies the position of Site Director for Hannover within the DZL.

Steering Committee

The Steering Committee constitutes the highest decision-making committee in the BREATH research network and is made up of the Management Board

the Management Board
Prof. Dr. Tobias Welte
Prof. Dr. Gesine Hansen
Prof. Dr. Arjang Ruhparwar
Prof. Dr. Norbert Krug

the Managing Director
Dr. Annegret Zurawski

one member each from the disease areas Asthma und Allergic Diseases (AA) and Endstage Lung Diseases (ELD)
Prof. Dr. Jens Hohlfeld (Fraunhofer ITEM)
Prof. Dr. Ulrich Martin

one representative from the Platforms 
Prof. Dr. Jens Vogel-Claussen

one respresentative from the partner LUH
Prof. Dr. Annika Herr

and a patient representative
Michael Wilken.

The above-named members of the Steering Committee were elected on January 24, 2023 in the BREATH General Assembly for a term of three years. For Michael Wilken, Prof. Dr. Herr and Prof. Dr. Vogel-Claussen it is the second term. For the other members of the committee, it is their fourth term.

The Steering Committee is responsible for decisions regarding the budget distribution guidelines, the admission of new members into the assembly of doctors and scientists (BREATH Faculty) and the strategic and organizational orientation of the research network. The promotion of young researchers also belongs to the functions of the Steering Committee.

Scientific and Economic Advisory Board

The International Scientific and Economic Advisory Board is currently made up of six members:

Chairman,
Prof. Dr. Andrew Bush   Professor of Paediatric Respirology, Imperial College & Consultant Paediatric Chest Physician, Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust, UK

Prof. Dr. Pieter Hiemstra   Professor of Respiratory Cell Biology and Immunolog, Head of the Laboratory for Respiratory Cell Biology and Immunology of the Department of Pulmonology, Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), The Netherlands
Prof. Dr. Sylvia Knapp   Professor of Infection Biology, Medical University Vienna, Wien, Österreich
Prof. Dr. Thea Koch   Klinikdirektorin, Klinik und Poliklinik für Anästhesiologie und Intensivtherapie, Universitätsklinikum Carl Gustav Carus an der Technischen Universität Dresden, Germany
Prof. Dr. Dirk Van Raemdonck   Head of Clinic, Department of Thoracic Surgery, University Hospitals Leuven, Belgium

a representative of the pharmaceutical industry,
Dr. Cordula Mohrlang   Senior Director Scientific Affairs, GlaxoSmithKline GmbH & Co. KG, Munich, Germany

and a representative from a medical insurance company.
Dr. Christoph Vauth   Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board, AOK NordWest, Die Gesundheitskasse, Dortmund, Germany

The Advisory Board oversees the scientific and medically innovative progress of BREATH and supports the BREATH Faculty in an advisory capacity. This important function is an honorary position.

Young Leaders

The Young Leaders committee consists of members of the BREATH Faculty. They support the BREATH Board of Directors and the BREATH Steering Committee in the planning of BREATH retreats, in the planning and implementation of high-profile events, in the strategic planning of the development of BREATH itself and in the preparation and implementation of evaluations.

The members were appointed by the board in September 2020. Their term of office is 2 years, an extension is possible.

The members of the Young Leaders Group are:

PD Dr. Christine Happle
Prof. Dr. Lars Knudsen
Prof. Dr. Alexander Kuhlmann
Dr. Lavinia Neubert
Dr. Ruth Olmer
PD Dr. Jessica Rademacher
Dr. Katherina Sewald
Dr. Patrick Zardo