April 2023 - The Breathing Association

Welcome New Board Members!

We’re excited to announce that we have added three new board members to our team, Dr. Roy St. John, JoAnn Reilly and Dennis Smith!

Dr. Roy St. John is a pulmonologist as well as the new Chief Medical Officer of The Breathing association. St. John also the medical director and principal investigator at Centricity Research and Aventiv Research. His research includes numerous Phase 2, 3 and 4 pharmaceutical studies.

Dr. Roy St. John’s Why: “As a pulmonary physician, I have had the opportunity to work in a variety of settings caring for patients with the full spectrum of lung diseases. In addition, for the last 9 years I have worked for Centricity Research and Dr. Samir Arora. He is the person who connected me with The Breathing Association last year, which led to my recent appointment as the Chief Medical Officer, and subsequently, becoming a member of the Board of Directors. I am very grateful to be joining this wonderful organization and look forward to working with such a caring team.”

JoAnn Reilly is the Senior Advisor of Pegasus Marketing Services. She specializes in achieving marketing goals and outreach success in healthcare related products, services, and delivery for faith-based organizations.

JoAnn’s Why: “I have known Lori Sontag, TBA President and CEO for many years, and admire and respect her passion for health care. As she described the history and services provided within TBA, I was immediately intrigued. The critically important work done at TBA resonated with me as I reflected back on my own family and work community who have been afflicted with breathing conditions. Additionally, COVID has illuminated the severity of breathing related health issues. It is an honor and privilege to play a small role in supporting a growing organization that provides invaluable education and services to people affected by breathing challenges.”

Dennis Smith is Principal Owner at DJS Consulting Services. He specializes in administrative management, board communications, budgeting and forecasting, community relations and more.

Dennis’s Why: “Through a mutual friend I was fortunate to meet Lori Sontag and learn about the Mission and Vision of The Breathing Association. I was looking for an opportunity to contribute what I can to a worthy and needed nonprofit in the Columbus vicinity and without a doubt I felt this was that organization. I am honored to have been considered for a seat on the board.”

admin2023-05-02T15:34:55-04:00April 24th, 2023|New Board Members|

Visit The Breathing Association at this year’s Urban One Health and Fitness Expo April 29th!

Did you know that seven out of ten people want to quit smoking, but do not know where to start? On Saturday, April 29 from 10am – 3pm, The Breathing Association will be attending the Urban One Health and Fitness Expo to offer free tobacco cessation information and resources.

Our very own Chief Operations Officer/VP of Operations, Iyaad M Hasan, DNP, MBA, APRN, will be at the expo to help educate participants about smoking cessation and answers your questions about why you should quit, how to quit and what treatment options are available to you.

The Urban One Health and Fitness Expo will be located at St. Stephen’s Community House 1500 East 17th Avenue Columbus, OH 43219.

For more information and details on this event, checkout the link below!

Click here for more information

admin2023-04-07T16:26:37-04:00April 7th, 2023|Events|

Tobacco Litter: Why It Matters

When you have the opportunity to talk with youth about using nicotine products, please don’t waste your time overwhelming them with facts about how it will harm their health and how addictive they are. Is that what I’m most concerned about? Absolutely! But it’s not what they are concerned with, and you will lose them in a heartbeat. So, what will they listen to? They will listen to the fact that Big Tobacco is concerned with one thing, profit. They have always considered youth as replacements for most customers that will become sick and die prematurely from using their products. When we show them the predatory advertising and marketing of the tobacco and vaping industry, youth don’t like being played.

Youth also cares about environmental issues. Tobacco and vaping are the largest forms of single-use plastic global environmental threats. Every minute, people dispose of 8.5 million cigarette butts. That is enough to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool in under an hour. Cigarette butts leach nicotine and other chemicals that harm or kill aquatic life. Micro-plastics have been found in water, in the air, and even in human organs and breast milk.

E-cigarette waste is potentially a more serious environmental threat than cigarette butts since e-cigarettes introduce plastic, nicotine salts, heavy metals, lead, mercury, and flammable lithium-ion batteries into waterways, soil, and to wildlife. Unlike cigarette butts, e-cigarette waste won’t biodegrade even under severe conditions. E-cigarettes left on the street eventually break down into micro-plastics and chemicals that flow into the storm drains to pollute our waterways and wildlife. There are many good resources for information on the environmental impact of tobacco products, check out Parents Against Vaping E-cigarettes, “Vapes are Trash”: https://www.parentsagainstvaping.org/vapesaretrash

Standing up against big industries that use slave labor, pollute our planet, and use predatory advertising to addict individuals is cool. Giving your money to Big Tobacco, which is interested in only making profits and harm our environment is…(I ask them to tell me how smart it is.)

admin2023-04-04T10:43:10-04:00April 4th, 2023|Bruce Barcelo|