Breathing Is a Human Right: Equity for Ventilatory Disability

This year's Margaret Pfrommer Endowed Memorial Lecture in Home-Based Mechanical Ventilation was awarded to Lisa F. Wolfe, MD, FCCP, professor of medicine and neurology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. The lecture, Breathing Is a Human Right: Equity for Ventilatory Disability, was presented on October 19th at CHEST 2022. This was the 23rd year the lecture was given at the annual meeting of pulmonologists to educate physicians about home mechanical ventilation (HMV).

About the Lecture

Established in 1999 by Dr. Allen Goldberg and Dr. Eveline Faure, the lecture honors polio survivor and advocate Margaret Pfrommer from Chicago, Illinois. Pfrommer, a quadriplegic from polio, spent part of her life in a nursing home after her mother's death. This experience compelled her to become an advocate for herself and for all those with significant disabilities. The purpose of the endowment is to honor an individual who possesses superior knowledge of home-based mechanical ventilation and who promotes the health professional/patient partnership.

Past Awardees of the Margaret Pfrommer Endowed Memorial Lecture

1999 — Dominique Robert, MD
2000 — Colin Sullivan, BScMed, MB, BS, PhD, FRA PhD, FRACP, FAA
2001 — Augusta Alba, MD
2002 — Joseph Ramsdell, MD, FCCP
2003 — Anita Simonds, MD, FRCP
2004 — John Downes, MD, FCCP
2005 — Barry Make, MD, FCCP
2006 — Allen Goldberg, MD, FCCP
2007 — Dudley Childress, MD
2008 — Joshua Benditt, MD, FCCP
2009 — Nicholas Hill, MD, FCCP
2010 — Barbara Rogers
2011 — Not awarded
2012 — Norma Braun, MD, FCCP
2013 — Roger Goldstein, MD, FCCP
2014 — Judith Fischer, MSLS, and Joan L. Headley, MS
2015 — John R. Bach, MD, FCCP
2016 — Thomas G. Keens, MD
2017 — Audrey J. King, MA
2018 — Douglas McKim, MD, FCCP
2019 — Howard Panitch, MD, FCCP
2020 — Peter C. Gay, MD, MS, FCCP
2021 — Debra Weese-Mayer, MD
2022 — Lisa F. Wolfe, MD, FCCP