Dr Berend is a world leader and mentor in COPD research and an APSR champion. Dr Berend joined GSK as a Global Medical Expert in a part-time capacity in 2015. He is also Head of Respiratory Research at the George Institute for Global Health, Professor Emeritus at the University of Sydney and Member of the Physiology Group at the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research. He also holds visiting and honorary professorships at three Chinese universities.

Previously Dr Berend was Head of the Department of Respiratory Medicine at the Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney, Executive Director of the Royal North Shore Hospital and Director of the Woolcock Institute for Medical Research. He has been heavily involved in national and international respiratory societies having been President of the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand (TSANZ) and President of the APSR. He has also served on the Council of the European Respiratory Society (ERS) and has been a member of the Board of the American Thoracic Society (ATS). In 2011 Dr Berend was Chairman of the Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS).

This award is generously provided by Dr Berend for the advancement of COPD respirology for an APSR Young Investigator from an Asia-Pacific LMIC* who is presenting original work at the APSR Congress. It serves to spur on the next generation of COPD researchers.

The winning abstract is selected by the APSR, supported by the APSR COPD Assembly, which ranks the abstracts for their novelty, importance, methodology, clarity and overall quality. A consensus on the best (eligible) COPD abstract is then obtained through a rigorous judging system.