Diane Dauwalder of Fort Worth, Texas, won’t stop believing. The longtime Pulmonary Hypertension Association volunteer and leader of the Fort Worth support group won the PHA 2026 theme contest. Her submission “PHixin’ to Find a Cure,” combines Texas slang with her hope for a cure.
“The ringtone on my phone is ‘Don’t Stop Believin’ by Journey, and it’s been like that since I was diagnosed in 2005,” Dauwalder says. “I will never stop believing and hoping that there will be a cure found in my lifetime.”
The theme contest, which PHA organizes the year before each conference, received 58 submissions. PHA 2026 International PH Conference and Scientific Sessions is set for June 11-14, 2026, in Dallas.
Originally from New Jersey, Dauwalder says she’s picked up plenty of Texas phrases since moving to Fort Worth. While brainstorming contest theme ideas, she was determined to find a way to blend a Texas expression with a wordplay twist — specifically by replacing the letter “F” with “PH.” The lightbulb moment came when she was hanging out with friends and heard someone say they were “fixin’ to do something.”
Dauwalder looks forward to attending PHA 2026 to learn more about PH research and reunite with her friends in the PH community.
“I wouldn’t have met a lot of these people if I didn’t have PH,” Dauwalder says. “We meet for lunch, talk, listen to each other and learn what others are going through. It’s amazing what you can learn from another person in the community.”
PHA will share more about Dauwalder in the December issue of Pathlight, PHA’s quarterly member magazine. Join or renew your PHA membership to access content just for Pathlight subscribers.
