It is with sadness that we report the passing of Claude Lenfant on June 26, 2023 in Vancouver Washington at the age of 94 years. As the GINA family we reflect on his long life in which he achieved great distinction as a leader in several fields of medicine and public health, and in his latter years for the pivotal role he played in the formation of GINA which he served as Director for 21 years, from its inception to 2016. Dr Lenfant was born in Paris where he received his medical training, and from early in his career distinguished himself in both France and the USA as a researcher in the flourishing era of cardiovascular research related to cardiac surgery. This led to an appointment at the University of Washington, Seattle.
In the 1970s, with pulmonary medicine being a fledgling discipline within cardiovascular medicine, he played an important role in assisting the National Heart Institute scope priorities in pulmonary research and medicine within the organisation, and in the establishment of a Division of Lung Disease at the National Institutes of Health in Maryland of which he became the first director. In due course he was appointed as Director of the newly named National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), a position that he held for 21 years. In this position he was known for his skill in corralling consensus and supporting broad-based research programmes in respiratory and cardiovascular medicine.
It was during this period at the NHLBI that Dr Lenfant turned his attention to addressing the problem of asthma. With the encouragement and support of Dr Albert L Sheffer of the Harvard Medical School, he established the National Asthma Awareness Program in 1989, and in 1992 an “International Consensus Report on Diagnosis and Management of Asthma” was published. Following further consultation with international asthma experts at meetings chaired by Dr Sheffer, under the joint auspices of the NHLBI and the World Health Organisation (supported by Dr Nikolai Khaltaev) the first GINA Report, entitled “Global Strategy for Asthma Management and Prevention: NHLBI/WHO Workshop Report” was published in 1995. And so GINA was established, with Dr Lenfant as Director and Dr Suzanne Hurd, formerly Director of the Lung Division of the NIH, as Scientific Director. Under their wise and visionary leadership, GINA was established as an independent non-profit public benefit organisation with broad global representation. Dr.Lefant will be remembered by GINA colleagues from all over the world for the way in which he encouraged partnerships and for inclusiveness in academic discourse, asking insightful questions and listening carefully to the answers.
GINA owes an enormous debt of gratitude to Dr Lenfant and to Dr Suzanne Hurd who together served it with great energy and commitment for so long. The existence and success of GINA may be considered one of the lasting “trophies” of Claude’s many and distinguished achievements in the field of health and public service. Heartfelt condolences are extended to his wife, Dr Hurd, and to his wider family on their loss.
The GINA Board of Directors and Science Committee