Glenview, Illinois — The American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST) has appointed Julie Captain, CAP, as its new Director of Philanthropy, placing an experienced academic health care fundraiser at the center of the organization’s efforts to expand research, medical education, and community support. The appointment comes as chest medicine faces growing scientific and clinical demands, including the global burden of chronic lung disease, increasingly complex critical care, sleep-related disorders, and the continuing need for earlier, more accurate diagnosis of respiratory illness.
Captain will lead the development of CHEST’s philanthropic programs, working with donors, volunteers, clinicians, researchers, and members to increase financial support for projects that influence patient care. In practical terms, philanthropy can help fund investigator-led studies, educational fellowships, professional training, travel grants, and programs that bring evidence-based respiratory care to communities with limited access to specialists. These investments are particularly important in pulmonary and critical care medicine, fields that depend on rapid translation of laboratory findings into clinical protocols.
Respiratory diseases are often biologically complex and difficult to manage because they involve interactions among environmental exposure, infection, genetics, immune responses, and social conditions. Conditions such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pulmonary fibrosis, pulmonary hypertension, and acute respiratory failure may require long-term monitoring as well as highly specialized interventions. Research funding supports work across this spectrum, from molecular studies of inflammation and tissue damage to clinical trials evaluating new drugs, ventilation strategies, diagnostic technologies, and methods for improving patient outcomes after intensive care.
Captain joins CHEST after serving as Associate Vice President of Advancement at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, where she led fundraising efforts for translational research, charity care, and Quality of Life programs. She also worked on the organization’s $100 million “Accelerate Ability” campaign. Translational research is designed to move discoveries from laboratory or engineering settings into clinical use, shortening the path between a scientific insight and a treatment, rehabilitation approach, or diagnostic tool that can benefit patients. Her previous work therefore combined large-scale campaign management with support for programs whose value is measured in both scientific progress and direct human impact.
Her professional background also includes a focus on legacy and charitable gift planning. Captain serves on the Board of Directors for the National Association for Charitable Gift Planning, an organization concerned with long-term giving strategies that allow donors to support institutions through wills, trusts, retirement assets, and other planned arrangements. Such gifts can provide stable funding for research and education over many years, enabling medical organizations to sustain programs that may not produce immediate results but are essential to building scientific knowledge and developing future clinical leaders.
“Julie has dedicated her career to connecting people with causes that reflect their values and inspire them to make a difference,” said Robert Musacchio, PhD, CEO of CHEST. He said her ability to build relationships around a shared mission would help the organization increase its philanthropic impact. Musacchio emphasized that donor support advances research, expands education, and helps prepare clinicians working to improve lung health worldwide. In chest medicine, education is not limited to formal academic instruction; it also includes continuing professional development, simulation training, clinical guidelines, and the exchange of expertise across health systems and countries.
CHEST reported that its philanthropy program raised $1.9 million in 2025, engaged 530 donors, and funded 90 travel grants for future leaders in chest medicine. Travel grants can be especially influential for early-career physicians, scientists, nurses, respiratory therapists, and other health professionals, because they provide access to scientific meetings, specialized training, mentorship, and collaborative networks. Those opportunities can expose young clinicians to new diagnostic standards and treatment approaches while helping them bring current knowledge back to hospitals and communities that may otherwise have limited access to international medical education.
The organization’s philanthropic strategy also reflects a broader trend in medical science: progress increasingly depends on cooperation between researchers, clinicians, patients, institutions, and the public. Donations can help support research infrastructure, data collection, biobanks, educational content, and pilot studies that are too preliminary to attract large-scale government or commercial investment. Early funding is often critical because it allows investigators to generate the evidence needed for larger clinical trials. In respiratory medicine, this may include testing biomarkers that predict treatment response, developing noninvasive monitoring systems, or examining how air pollution and other environmental exposures alter lung function over time.
“CHEST has built an inspiring philanthropic vision centered on meaningful, measurable impact,” Captain said. She described the appointment as an opportunity to work with donors, volunteers, and the CHEST community to advance science, education, and patient care. The emphasis on measurable outcomes is increasingly important in health philanthropy, where supporters want to understand how contributions translate into scholarships, research findings, improved clinical practice, or services for underserved populations. By linking financial support to clearly defined medical and educational goals, CHEST aims to make its fundraising work more transparent and consequential.
CHEST serves more than 18,000 members worldwide and represents professionals working in pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine. The organization’s mission is to champion the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of chest diseases through education, communication, and research. Information about its philanthropic work, including its 2025 impact report, is available through the CHEST website. The report describes how donor contributions are being directed toward research, professional development, educational opportunities, and local community support as Captain begins her new role.
Subject of Research: Philanthropy supporting chest medicine research, education, clinical training, and community health programs.
Article Title: CHEST Appoints Julie Captain to Lead Philanthropy and Expand Support for Lung Health Science
Web References: https://www.chestnet.org/membership-and-community/philanthropy/impact-report; http://chestnet.org/
Keywords: Philanthropy, social welfare, health and medicine, clinical medicine, chest medicine, pulmonary medicine, critical care, sleep medicine, medical research, medical education, lung health, charitable giving, donor engagement, travel grants, translational research
