The two men share a passion for helping others and an interest in curing lung disease - Robert as a patient and Emil as a pharmacist.

"Me and my family grew up in Newcastle, Emil grew up in Gloucester," Robert said. "Asthma is our common thread."

Emil, a Maitland Boys High School alumnus, developed an interest in asthma while running a pharmacy in Revesby. 

"One particular boy died from asthma and that brought me to look at contributing factors to the disease," he said. 

In 1976 he founded Allersearch, a company that continues to develop medical devices for respiratory conditions.

"The equipment we worked on was piloted and taken up in the Newcastle region," Emil said. "Nebulisers, in particular, and peak flow metres were part of that.

"In my case that was due to the high credibility of the Dan name through Dr Raymond Dan, Robert's father, who was a radiologist in Newcastle."

Apart from his pioneering role in asthma treatment, Emil is known for his encouragement of pharmacists to take active roles in patients' care, and as an advocate of anti-smoking education.  

"He has continued to be entrepreneurial but he is the most caring man in the world," Robert said. "If he could save everybody from asthma problems, he would."

Robert, a former high school teacher, has volunteered as a surf life saver at Merewether Beach for the past 35 years, and delivered Meals on Wheels for the past twenty.

His interests merged with his cousin's nine years ago when he was diagnosed with a rare and, in Robert's case, life-threatening disease called ABPA, for which there is no cure. 

"I was retired after I developed a lung disease. My asthma was a precursor to it," the 63-year-old said.

"I felt sorry for myself for a few months. But I realised it was a matter of getting on the front foot."

Robert participates in every medical study into asthma that he can. He is currently taking part in an investigation into whether yoga provides benefits to sufferers of the disease.

"I've pretty much donated my body to the Hunter Medical Research Institute," he said. 

Emil said the fact they would receive their Order of Australia awards together in May made him feel "very proud".

"I've written a lot of history of the family and the common factor is care of others. Robert is that," he said. 

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