Medical and Scientific Experts and Educators

Bruce E. Miller Bruce E. Miller, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer

Timothy AksamitTimothy Aksamit, MD, Bronchiectasis and NTM 360 Medical Director

Courtney Crim Courtney Crim, MD, COPD360 Medical Director

Alan HamiltonAlan Hamilton, PhD, Senior Director of Research

Nicholas Locantore Nicholas Locantore, PhD, Senior Director of Digital Data Collection and Integration

David ManninoDavid M. Mannino III, MD, FCCP, FERS, Medical Director and Co-Founder

Byron Thomashow Byron Thomashow, MD, Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer

Delia OliverDelia P. Oliver, BSEd, MSEd, VP of Bronchiectasis and NTM 360

 

Educators

Stephanie WilliamsStephanie Williams, BS, RRT, Vice President, Education and Engagement

Amanda Atkinson Amanda Atkinson, MSN, RN, Manager of Patient and Professional Education

Michael HessMichael W. Hess, MPH, RRT, RPFT, Senior Director of Public Outreach and Education

Christina Hunt Christina Hunt, BS, RRT-NPS, Director of Bronchiectasis and NTM Research and Education

Kristen SzymonikKristen Szymonik, BS, RRT, AE-C, Assistant Director of Education

 

Bruce E. Miller, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer

Bruce E. Miller

Bruce Miller, PhD, is the Chief Scientific Officer at the COPD Foundation. He is also the scientific lead for COPD360Net, the Foundation's Digital Health and Therapeutics Development Accelerator and represents the Foundation on committees that oversee the COPDGene and SPIROMICS studies.

Prior to joining the Foundation, he held senior scientific roles at several pharmaceutical firms, including Sterling Winthrop Pharmaceuticals, Rhone-Poulenc Rorer, Johnson & Johnson, and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). During his 15 years at GSK, Dr. Miller led several COPD drug development projects and was involved in numerous public-private collaborations that significantly contributed to disease understanding in COPD.

While at GSK, Dr. Miller served as industry co-chair for the COPD Biomarker Qualification Consortium (CBQC) Fibrinogen Working Group, an effort that resulted in the first regulatory qualification with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for a biomarker as a drug development tool to support COPD clinical trials. He has authored or co-authored approximately 200 peer-reviewed publications in the areas of respiratory research and inflammation/immunology.

Education:

  • Degrees
    • BS —Biology/Chemistry - State University of New York at Albany (1981)
    • PhD —Pharmacology and Toxicology - The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1988)
  • Fellowships
    • Post-doctoral fellowship, Pharmacology - Glaxo, Inc. (1989-1991)

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Timothy Aksamit, MD, Bronchiectasis and NTM 360 Medical Director

Timothy Aksamit

Timothy Aksamit, MD, is a consultant and Associate Professor of Medicine in the Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Medicine Division at Mayo Clinic Rochester, MN, and is the Medical Director of the Mayo Mycobacterial and Bronchiectasis Clinic. He was a founding member and previous chair of the United States Bronchiectasis and NTM Research Registry for six years and currently supports the Foundation's bronchiectasis and NTM strategy as Medical Director of the Bronchiectasis and NTM 360 initiative. He is co-chair of World Bronchiectasis Day. He has additionally served as Director for the Medical ICU at St. Mary's Clinic with the Mayo Clinic for six years.

Dr. Aksamit has co-authored an international position statement on nontuberculous mycobacteria by the American Thoracic Society and Infectious Disease Society of America, and he is a founding member of an international NTM consortium (NTM-NET). He helped develop and implement a tuberculosis clinic collaboration between the Mayo Clinic and the Olmsted County Public Health Department and currently serves as its director. Dr. Aksamit has previously been involved with the CDC-sponsored Heartland National TB Center as a faculty member, advisory committee member, and medical consultant; and previously served as a member and subsequent chair of the State of Minnesota Tuberculosis Advisory Committee. He is the medical director of Spiritual Care Services at St. Mary's Hospital Campus Mayo Clinic Rochester, MN.

Education:

 

  • Degrees
    • BS, Chemistry - The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (1981)
    • MD - Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine (1985)
  • Residency
    • Internal Medicine and Chief Resident - University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (1985-1988)
  • Fellowship
    • oyal Postgraduate Medical School - Hammersmith Hospital (1990)
    • Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Medicine - University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (1988-1991)

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Courtney Crim, MD, COPD360 Medical Director

Courtney Crim

Courtney Crim, MD, is the COPD360 Medical Director for the Foundation. He supports COPD360Net, the Foundation's initiative to facilitate, review, and expedite clinical trials for new therapies and digital health tools while also providing support to the Foundation's COPD360 Coach program.

Dr. Crim is currently a Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Most recently, he served as Group Director in Clinical Development in Respiratory Clinical Sciences at GlaxoSmithKline and was a member of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Pulmonary and Allergy Drug Advisory Committee early in his career. Dr. Crim has over 20 years of experience in pharmaceutical clinical development, and medical affairs governance that led to the development of novel chemical entities from Phase II through IV clinical trials and post-marketing regulatory requirements.

Education:

  • Degrees
    • BS - Chemistry, University of Michigan (1973)
    • MD - University of Michigan Medical School (1977)
  • Residencies and Internships
    • Internship, Internal Medicine - Baylor College of Medicine (1978)
    • Residency, Internal Medicine - Henry Ford Hospital (1981)
  • Fellowships
    • Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Medicine - University of Michigan (1984)

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Alan Hamilton, PhD, Senior Director of Research

Alan HamiltonAlan Hamilton, PhD, joined the Foundation in early 2022 as the Senior Director of Research. As the program lead for the Foundation's Patient Inspired Validation of Outcome Tools (PIVOT) initiative, Dr. Hamilton has a major focus on activities related to the development and evaluation of pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions for COPD, Bronchiectasis, NTM lung disease, and other chronic lung diseases. In addition to his primary role as PIVOT lead, he also provides subject matter expertise to the Foundation on topics related to pulmonary rehabilitation, including exercise training and testing, self-management, and behavior change.

 

Throughout his decades-long academic and industry career, Dr. Hamilton has shown a passion for developing and evaluating interventions that target the alleviation of breathlessness and associated activity limitations in COPD. Between 2013 and 2021, he represented Boehringer Ingelheim in the COPD Biomarker Qualification Consortium (CBQC). He served as industry co-chair for the Constant Work Rate Exercise Working Group, and recently served as industry co-chair for the CBQC Steering Committee. A highlight of Dr. Hamilton's career was his role as a global clinical program lead for a once-daily long-acting muscarinic antagonist/beta-agonist combination. He recently joined the planning committee for the American Thoracic Society Pulmonary Rehabilitation Assembly.

Education:

  • Degrees
    • BS— Chemistry - University of Nottingham (1986)
    • MS— Sport Science - Loughborough University (1987)
    • PhD, Physiology and Pharmacology - McMaster University (1995)
    • Postdoctoral Fellowship
    • Pharmacology - McMaster University (1995 - 1997)

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Nicholas Locantore, PhD, Senior Director of Digital Data Collection and Integration

Nicholas Locantore

Nicholas Locantore, PhD, is the Senior Statistical Director for the Foundation. He has more than 20 years of experience in clinical research, statistical consulting, and digital data integration. At the Foundation, Locantore is primarily engaged with the Patient Powered Research Network (PPRN).

Education:

  • BA— Mathematics - Trenton State College
  • PhD— Statistics - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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David M. Mannino III, MD, FCCP, FERS, Medical Director and Co-Founder

David ManninoDavid Mannino, MD, was part of the original team that launched the COPD Foundation and has served the Foundation in multiple roles, including Chair of the Medical and Scientific Advisory Committee, Chief Scientific Officer, and Associate Editor of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases: Journal of the COPD Foundation.

 

He formerly held a position at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. where he helped launch the National Asthma Program and worked on the epidemiology of COPD. In 2004, Dr. Mannino retired from the U.S. Public Health Service and started his academic career at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, where he was part of the international Burden of Lung Disease (BOLD) team, with the only U.S. site. Following a three-year stint as a U.S. Medical Expert at GlaxoSmithKline where he focused on COPD, he returned to the COPD Foundation as a Medical Director in November 2020.

Education:

  • Degrees
    • BS - The Pennsylvania State University (1979)
    • MD - Jefferson Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University (1981)
  • Residency
    • Internal Medicine - Lankenau Hospital (1984)
  • Fellowship
    • Pulmonary - West Virginia University (1991)

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Byron Thomashow, MD, Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer

Byron Thomashow

Dr. Byron Thomashow helped found the COPD Foundation in 2004 and served as Chairman of the Board of Directors for ten years. As of July 2018, he took on the role of Chief Medical Officer of the Foundation. He has served as co-chair for the NY State COPD Coalition, co-chaired the New York State COPD Summit in 2010, the COPD7 USA 2011, COPD8 USA 2013, COPD 9USA 2015, COPD10 USA 2017, and the COPD Readmission Summits in October 2013 and March 2015.

Dr. Thomashow is currently a Professor Emeritus at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and a Special Lecturer at New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center. He spent many years as a Professor of Medicine and an Attending Physician at that institution. He was the medical co-director of the Jo-Ann LeBuhn Center for Chest Disease at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and medical director of the New York-Presbyterian Lung Volume Reduction program. He chaired the Respiratory Disease Council of the New York-Presbyterian Healthcare Network for many years and co-chaired the New York-Presbyterian smoking cessation initiative leading to campus going smoke-free. The Byron M. Thomashow Professorship of Medicine at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons was established in his honor in 2006.

He was awarded the 2013 American Thoracic Society Public Advisory Roundtable Excellence Award. In 2016, he received the Columbia University Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award sponsored by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation. In 2017, he received the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award and in 2018 received the JW Walsh Visionary Award from the COPD Foundation. He received the Milstein Service Award from Columbia University and New York-Presbyterian Hospital in 2022. He was a member of the steering committee and the co-primary investigator at the Columbia site for the National Emphysema Treatment Trial and has been actively involved in multiple national clinical research projects including the development and validation of the CAPTURE tool (COPD Assessment in Primary Care to Identify Undiagnosed Respiratory Disease and Exacerbation Risk).

Education:

  • Degrees
    • BA - Columbia College (1970)
    • MD - Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons (1974)
  • Residency
    • Medical Internship - Roosevelt Hospital (1975)
    • Medical Resident - Roosevelt Hospital (1978)
  • Fellowships
    • Chief Medical Resident and Pulmonary Fellow - Roosevelt Hospital (1978)
    • Senior Pulmonary Fellow - Roosevelt Hospital (1979)
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Delia P. Oliver, BSEd, MSEd, VP of Bronchiectasis and NTM 360

Delia OliverDelia P. Oliver is the VP for Bronchiectasis and NTM 360 at the COPD Foundation. She has worked with the Foundation since 2009 and joined the team full-time in 2011. In her role at the Foundation, she is responsible for leading the Bronchiectasis and NTM 360 team and overseeing its programs including the Bronchiectasis and NTM Research Registry, BronchandNTM360social, and World Bronchiectasis Day.

 

Delia has extensive experience managing patient registries and research consortia, and serves a critical role in connecting patients, health care providers, researchers, and industry partners to work collaboratively to advance research in the fields of COPD, bronchiectasis, and nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) lung disease.

Education:

  • BSEd, Human and Social Development, University of Miami (2011)
  • MSEd, Community and Social Change, University of Miami (2013)

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  • A list of publications generated from the programs of Bronchiectasis and NTM 360 can be found here.
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Stephanie Williams, BS, RRT, Vice President, Education and Engagement

Stephanie WilliamsStephanie Williams, BS, RRT, is the Vice President, Education and Engagement for the COPD Foundation. In her role she works to make the COPD Foundation programs accessible to those in the COPD community by managing the COPD Readmissions Institutes for health care professionals, designing programs such as virtual Harmonicas for Health® and engaging the COPD community through educational webinars, social media events, blog posts, and more.

 

Over the course of her career, Williams has designed and implemented pulmonary rehabilitation and respiratory programs in a variety of patient care settings. Before joining the Foundation, she was the Director of Clinical Education and Clinical Effectiveness at Alana HealthCare in Nashville, Tennessee, where she ensured up-to-date education for respiratory staff education, while also developing educational programs for patients enrolled in both the home and facility-based non-invasive ventilation programs. Williams was also the Director of Cardiopulmonary for White County Community Hospital where she started a pulmonary rehab program, a support group for COPD patients in the community, and a smoking cessation program.

Education:

  • BS - Education, Tennessee Technological University (1994)
  • AS - Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist, Independence University (2007)

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Amanda Atkinson, MSN, RN, Manager of Patient and Professional Education

Amanda Atkinson

Amanda Atkinson, MSN, RN is the Manager of Patient and Professional Education for the COPD Foundation. In this role she develops educational resources for health care professionals, patients, and caregivers, improving awareness of and accessibility to the latest evidence-based research, innovation, and information.

Atkinson comes from a diverse clinical background where she provided care to patients with a variety of health conditions. She has held educational roles over the course of her career in both the health care and corporate sectors, including serving as adjunct faculty for the community and technical college system. She also co-authored a curriculum for use in non-profit recovery homes. Atkinson has a passion for empowering patients, caregivers, and providers by creating educational tools to improve quality of care, enabling patients to live their best lives.

Education:

  • MS, Nursing Education, Northern Kentucky University (2021)
  • AS— Nursing, Western Kentucky University (2018)
  • BA — Business, Mid-Continent University (2005)

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Michael W. Hess, MPH, RRT, RPFT, Senior Director of Public Outreach and Education

Michael Hess

Michael W. Hess, MPH, RRT, RPFT, is the Senior Director of Public Outreach and Education. He leads the Foundation's project, which facilitates oxygen equipment innovation and research, promotes policy improvements surrounding oxygen reimbursement, and enhances clinician education on the appropriate use of this critical therapy.

Before joining the Foundation, Hess served as the Chronic Lung Disease Coordinator at WMed Health in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He provided patient education, diagnostic testing, care coordination, and other respiratory care services as part of a primary care clinic, while also designing and implementing community outreach programs to enhance respiratory health. In 2019, he was selected as Ambulatory and Post-Acute Care Specialty Practitioner of the Year by the American Association for Respiratory Care.

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Christina Hunt, BS, RRT-NPS, Director of Bronchiectasis and NTM Research and Education

Christina Hunt

Christina Hunt, RRT-NPS, is the Director of Bronchiectasis and NTM Research and Education for the Foundation. In this role, she creates patient educational resources and assists with research projects that are part of Bronchiectasis and NTM360, a program started by the Foundation several years ago because of the significant overlap between COPD and these two chronic lung diseases.

Hunt is a registered respiratory therapist and has worked in respiratory care for more than 20 years including in adult, pediatric, and neonatal intensive care units, critical care transport teams, and most recently, pulmonary rehabilitation. She has worked as a respiratory department clinical educator at Bon Secours St. Mary’s Hospital and as both adjunct faculty and a clinical instructor for respiratory care students at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College. In 2018, Hunt developed a successful blog, BreatheLiveFit.com, to help people with chronic lung conditions live happier, healthier lives. She also serves on the board of directors for Breath Matters Support Group of Virginia.

Education:

  • BS, Human Food, Nutrition, and Exercise - Virginia Tech
  • RRT, Registered Respiratory Therapist

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Kristen Szymonik, BS, RRT, AE-C, Assistant Director of Education

Kristen SzymonikKristen Szymonik, BS, RRT, AE-C, is the Assistant Director of Education for the COPD Foundation. She develops and edits educational materials for patients and community outreach projects.

 

Szymonik is a registered respiratory therapist, certified asthma educator, and medical writer. Prior to joining the Foundation, she designed and implemented one of the first comprehensive asthma education programs in the Chicago suburbs, providing inpatient, outpatient, and community-based education for patients and families. She served a term on the National Asthma Educator Certification Board, where she collaborated with medical professionals from all disciplines and backgrounds. As a medical writer, Szymonik developed numerous continuing education classes for health care providers, wrote study guides for national-level board exams, and presented lectures for healthcare providers on the management of asthma and allergies. She also serves as an author and faculty member on a web-based nursing education forum.

Education:

  • BS - Respiratory Care, National-Louis University (2001)

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