DZL Patient Advocacy Board Launches with a Successful Inaugural Meeting

On April 10, 2025, the founding meeting of the Patient Advocacy Board of the German Center for Lung Research (DZL) took place in Leipzig. With the establishment of this board, the DZL is sending a clear message: the perspective of patients and their families should play an even more central role in the center's research activities going forward.

The Patient Advocacy Board is designed as an independent advisory body and is in direct communication with the DZL management. The goal is to quickly convey the concerns of those affected to the right channels and actively integrate the patient perspective into research processes. For each of the DZL’s disease areas, the board has appointed committed representatives who advocate for the interests of patients.

At the first meeting, members of the Patient Advocacy Board met with representatives of the DZL Board, DZL management, and other DZL stakeholders to openly exchange expectations and lay the groundwork for future collaboration. The main focus was on the desire for a trusting communication on equal terms—characterized by mutual listening, respect, and the shared goal of bringing the realities of affected individuals to the forefront.

It became clear that there is significant interest in bringing together various perspectives from research and daily life to learn from one another. The Patient Advocacy Board expressed a desire for regular updates on DZL activities—beyond the individual disease areas.

A personal exchange in the form of a regular format is to be established going forward. The design of this dialogue is a process that will now be developed further together.

With the Patient Advocacy Board, the DZL is establishing an important platform to sustainably integrate the perspectives of patients into its research activities—focusing on research that centers on the needs of those affected.