News

John Linnell, COPD Foundation, US COPD Coalition

John was diagnosed with COPD in 2005 at the age of 50. Now, he has been serving numerous patient advocacy positions, at both national and international levels.
John is a member of the Board of Directors for the US COPD Coalition, the Executive Board of Directors for EFFORTS, and the Governing Board for the COPD Foundation PPRN (Patient Powered Research Network). John also sat as a patient reviewer for the United States Department of Defense Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program for several years. John is also finishing a study funded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, entitled, “Impact of a Peer Support Program Amongst COPD Patients and Their Caregivers.” The outcomes and results are currently being prepared for publication in a peer reviewed medical journal which will list him as a co-author.

Lode Dewulf is trusted as a global thought leader for patient engagement in medicine development. He currently works as Chief Patient Officer at Servier, a foundation-governed global pharmaceutical company.

Lode Dewulf, MD, DPM, FFPM, Chief Patient Affairs Officer, Servier

When Dr. Dewulf studied and practiced medicine, he quickly realized that true engagement, with the patients and their families, are at least as important as good medicine in achieving the best health outcomes. He joined the pharmaceutical industry in 1989 to create a broader impact through medical education. Ten years later, when the internet started to grow as a new way to provide quality medical information, he took a sabbatical and co-founded PlanetMedica, Europe’s first healthcare portal. Dr. Dewulf continued in global executive leadership roles in pharmaceutical medical affairs. In 2012 at UCB, he became Chief Patient Affairs Officer, the industry’s first executive dedicated to patient affairs. Dr. Dewulf volunteers his time supporting individual patients and advising both private and public organizations about patient engagement.

Kazuyoshi Hatanaka, Chairman of Japan Partners for Patient-Centric Care (JPPaC)

Mr. Kazuyoshi Hatanaka has vast experience in the pharmaceutical industry and worked from 1968 to 2006 at Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd, which merged to become Astellas Pharma Inc. He was also a management consulting professional at Hatanaka Pharma Consulting, a Professor at Kagawa University Business School Graduate School of Management, and an auditor at Toho Pharmaceutical.

Since 2014, Mr. Hatanaka serves as the Chairman of an non-profit organization (NPO) called Japan Partners for Patient-Centric Care (JPPaC), whose mission is “The needs of the patient come first”. Through his NPO activities, he is learning from survivors of intractable diseases and cancer, regarding what it is to be a patient, and how should “patient-centric medicine” be defined.

Current titles: Chairman of Japan Partners for Patient-Centric Care (JPPaC) and Specially Appointed Professor, Graduate School of Pharma Management, Japan University of Economics

Q: We have heard that your NPO, JPPaC, is a patient advocacy group that will be participating in eyeforpharma Japan. We would like to ask you about JPPaC’s activities, as well as your thoughts on your timing of re-acknowledging the importance of patient-centricity and putting it into practice as a patient advocacy group in Japan – why now?