AIR Society Event Honors Doctors from National Jewish Health and Raises Funds for COVID-19 Treatment and Research

The 28^th Annual National Jewish Health AIR Society benefit -- The Sky’s The Limit held Oct. 29, 2020, featured heroes of the COVID-19 pandemic. The virtual celebration honored physicians from National Jewish Health who traveled to New York City to help care for acutely ill COVID-19 patients during the early days of the crisis. The event raised more than $80,000 to help fund COVID-19 treatment and research at National Jewish Health.

National Jewish Health President and CEO Michael Salem, MD, thanked the attendees and explained the role of National Jewish Health in fighting the pandemic. “Defeating the COVID-19 pandemic is what National Jewish Health was built for, is highly focused on, and the kind of work we have excelled at for more than a century," said Dr. Salem.

“It was an honor to oversee the volunteer effort to send doctors from Denver to New York. I couldn't be more proud of the group of physicians, who went through a great deal to provide their extraordinary, compassionate care,” said William Janssen, MD, head of critical care at National Jewish Health.

As part of the event, Katherine Hisert, MD; Kenneth Lyn-Kew, MD; Amen Sergew, MD; and Joshua Solomon, MD, shared personal stories about their experiences in New York. Dr. Janssen, and his colleagues Anthony Gerber, MD; Max Seibold, MD; and Pamela Zeitlin, MD, discussed additional aspects of COVID-19 treatment and research. National Jewish Health currently has more than 90 active COVID-19 research studies underway.

“I’ve never been more proud to be affiliated with National Jewish Health,” said Roger Silverstein, Executive Vice President of Silverstein Properties, Inc., and Chair Emeritus of the New York AIR Society, after hearing the doctors’ stories.

Co-chairs emeritus for the event were Kathy A. Chazen, Peter Galperin, and Roger A. Silverstein. Event Co-chairs were Jennifer and Kyle Widay. Founding members of the AIR Society are: Kathy Chazen; Michael Comras; Bruce Dobozin, MD; Stacey and Keith Locker; Jeffrey Rubin; and Roger Silverstein. The online event was hosted by emcee and auctioneer Harry Santa-Ollala.

View the full list of event leadership and sponsors at Airsociety.org. For more event information, please contact Mattie Shepheard at 720.591.4139 or ShepheardM@njhealth.org.

The AIR Society was formed in 1991. AIR stands for Asthma, Immunology and Respiratory Medicine. Some of the founding members, or their family members, had been treated for asthma, allergies and/or immune system disorders at National Jewish Health and formed the group as a way to give back. Since its inception, the AIR Society has raised more than $5 million to fund research and patient care, and clinical and educational programs at National Jewish Health.

For more information about the AIR Society, contact Mattie Shepheard at 212.297.0857 or ShepheardM@njhealth.org.