Three individuals with highly diverse backgrounds and interests were named Honorary Members of The Union at the General Assembly closing the 42nd Union Conference in Lille, France. Honorary Membership is a lifetime status given in recognition of distinguished contributions to the fight against tuberculosis and lung disease. As Honorary Members, they are looked to as resources for both guidance and inspiration.
The new Honorary Members are Prof Margaret R Becklake of Canada, Prof Elif Dagli of Turkey and Prof Robert Loddenkemper of Germany.
Prof Margaret R Becklake, MD, FRCP(UK); CM, GOQ
Prof Margaret Becklake graduated in Medicine from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. After post-graduate training in the UK, she returned there to appointments in the Department of Medicine and as Physiologist to the Miners’ Pneumoconiosis Bureau. The latter allowed her access to the clinical and chest X-ray records for almost half a million miners, an invaluable resource for epidemiological research.
In 1957 Prof Becklake moved with her family to Montreal for positions at the Royal Victoria Hospital and McGill University. She held appointments in the Departments of Medicine and of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, whose Summer Programme she directed from 1986 to 2003. She is now Emeritus Professor there.
Prof Becklake maintained her African connections through her teaching and research, and, from 1995 to 2002, she contributed to The Union’s courses there.
Her 50-year career started with the development of lung function tests as a clinical tool and moved into their application to epidemiological research. Her overall focus remains the development of knowledge that will lead to a reduction of disease at the population level.
Honorary member: Prof Elif Dagli (Turkey)
Prof Elif Dagli was born in Istanbul and studied medicine in Turkey and the UK. She became a Pediatric Consultant at Ataturk Chest Hospital in Ankara and joined the faculty of Marmara University in Istanbul. After two years as a research fellow in the UK, she returned to Marmara, where she rose to be chair of the Department of Pediatrics (2000-2010).
Prof Dagli has been active in the European Respiratory Society, establishing the Smoking Prevention Committee in 1998. She helped found the Turkish National Committee on Tobacco or Health in 1995 and has headed it since 2008. A Union member active in tobacco prevention, she was Secretary General and Chair of the Scientific Coordinating Committee from 1999-2001.
Prof Dagli helped draft Turkish tobacco control legislation (1996 and 2008) and participated in the negotiations for the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. She continues to work actively against the tobacco industry and support smoke-free legislation.
Honorary Member: Prof Robert Loddenkemper (Germany)
Prof Robert Loddenkemper was born in Lower Silesia (now Poland) and studied medicine in Freiburg and Berlin. After a research fellowship in pulmonary diseases in the USA, he became a professor of Internal Medicine at the Free University of Berlin. He has also been with Berlin’s Lungenklinik Heckeshorn since 1976, becoming Chief of Internal Medicine/Pulmonology in 1983.
Prof Loddenkemper is author or co-author of more than 500 papers on tuberculosis and other fields of interest and has served on the editorial board of a number of journals
He has been very active in national and regional associations promoting lung health and formerly served as president of the European Respiratory Society.
As a Union member, he served on the Coordinating Committee of Scientific Activities for 7 years. He has been as a member of the Board of Directors (2003-2007) and President of The Union Europe Region (2004-2007). He is currently an Associate Editor of the IJTLD.