29 Oct PERF 2020 Annual Appeal

Request For Your Support

2020 has been quite a year! We very much hope that you’re weathering the pandemic well and staying healthy. To those who have suffered losses, we send our sympathy and hope for better days. We hope that our progress report will bring a bit of light into your day.

The global pandemic has turned our world upside down, but it hasn’t slowed the diagnoses or devastating effects of chronic lung diseases. We’ve been working hard on research and education to benefit those with chronic breathing difficulties.

For those of you new to PERF, welcome. Please take the time to take a look at our website and see what we’re all about. To our regular readers, thank you for your support and feedback.

Research Accomplishments

Research has naturally been majorly impacted by the pandemic. Our researchers hardly missed a beat when the laboratory was forced to close to in-center visits in March. They switched to “virtual” visits (mostly by phone) and have “seen” over 100 patients over the intervening months. The laboratory is in the process of (cautiously) re-opening and our researchers are hard at work conducting projects to help those with COPD, asthma, pulmonary hypertension, obesity, and chronic kidney disease. Each of these groups of individuals shares a common theme, which shortness of breath during activity. PERF has specifically supported projects to:

• Help engage participants in clinical research
• Identify new molecules in the blood of COPD patients that might indicate whether they are at higher risk for flare-ups
• Study the utility of a new pulmonary device to assess whether airways collapse during exercise in COPD patients

And, yes, our researchers are performing COVID-19 studies too, to identify new methods of diagnosis and treatment.

Educational Accomplishments

Our website (PERF2ndwind.org) has undergone a makeover that has improved its functionality and access to a huge large amount of educational material anytime you need it. We produce blog posts every week or two, and we have seen the users of these blogs almost double during COVID-19.  To receive these blog posts via your inbox, go to our website and scroll to the bottom of the page; you’ll find it easy to sign-up there.

Your Help Matters

PERF has demonstrated since our founding in 1984, that the power of community and research working together has and must continue making great strides to improve the quality of life for those with chronic lung disease or breathing difficulties.

PERF is a small non-profit foundation entirely supported by volunteers. PERF has extremely low overhead (less than 10% over the past 5 years) and the Board of Directors and Medical Advisors receive no financial compensation for their work.

Your contributions go directly to research and education. Your donation will go a long way in helping to offset the losses and delays in grant funding caused by the pandemic, to buy much-needed equipment and keep the lights on.

No donation is too small.

Your donations are fully tax-deductible and will be gratefully acknowledged in writing. We very much hope to hear from you.

Make a secure donation by following the steps below.

PERF uses PayPal for donations, but you don’t need a PayPal account. Just enter your credit card. Take a look at our donate page.

Or mail your contribution to:

The Pulmonary Education and Research Foundation (PERF)

P.O. Box 1133

Lomita, CA 90717-5133

Be sure to include any contact information that will be needed.

We wish you and yours a happy and healthy…and safe…holiday season.

Richard Casaburi, Ph.D., M.D.

President, Pulmonary Education and Research Foundation

Alvin Grancell/Mary Burns Chair in the Rehabilitative Sciences

Professor of Medicine, UCLA School of Medicine

Medical Director, Rehabilitation Clinical Trials Center

Lundquist Institute for Biomedical Innovation at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center