Editorial Board
Dr. Varon is the Chief of Critical Care Services at the Foundation Surgical Hospital and past Chief of Staff at the University General Hospital at Houston. He is the professor of acute and continuing care at the University of Texas, Houston and a clinical professor of Medicine at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. He is a professor of medicine, surgery and emergency medicine at several universities. Dr. Varon is board-certified in internal medicine, critical care, pulmonary diseases and geriatrics and has added qualification in emergency medicine and sleep disorders. As an avid researcher, Dr. Varon has contributed more than 700 peer-reviewed journal articles, 10 full text books, and 10 dozen book chapters to the literature. He co-described the hyponatremia associated with extreme exercise syndrome also known as “Varon-Ayus Syndrome” Dr. Varon has lectured in over 60 different countries around the world.
Dr. Marik received his medical degree from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. Dr. Marik did Critical Care Fellowship in London, and Ontario, Canada. Dr. Marik has worked in various teaching hospitals in the USA, since 1992. He is a board certified in Internal Medicine, Critical Care Medicine, Neurocritical Care and Nutrition Science. Dr. Marik is currently Professor of Medicine and Chief of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, Virginia. Dr. Marik has written over 400 peer reviewed journal articles, 80 book chapters and authored four critical care books. He has been cited over 25,000 times in peer reviewed publications.
Dr. Salim Surani has completed his fellowship in Pulmonology from Baylor College of Medicine. He also has his Masters in Public Health from Yale University. Dr. Surani has authored more than 100 articles in the peer review journals and has written several books and book chapters. He has served as an independent grant reviewer for Governmental agencies. Dr. Surani serves as an associate editor for the Current Respiratory Medicine Review. He has served as a speaker at several regional, national, and international scientific conferences. He has also served in committees for several national organizations.
Dr. Corlateanu is the Associate Professor at Department of Respiratory medicine at State University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Nicolae Testemitanu", Chisinau, Moldova. He is National Leader for Moldova at The Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) and member of the The Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) Assembly for Moldova. Dr. Corlateanu also served as National Delegate of European Respiratory Society (ERS) for Moldova. He has written over 50 peer-reviewed articles and several book chapters. He is a reviewer for multiple reputed journals in the field of respiratory diseases and the Assistant Editor for Current Respiratory Medicine Reviews.
Occupational Medicine, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Catania Veronica Filetti is a Post-Doctoral Researcher at the University of Catania. She is involved in new diagnostic strategy and biomarker discovery using innovative approaches as bioinformatics tools and the droplet digital PCR in biological matrices or by subjects exposed to different xenobiotics both at an environmental and occupational level. In addition, she uses the histological and immunohistochemical approaches for the evaluation of new biomarkers related to various diseases, especially cancer. She is involved in epidemiological studies and cellular and molecular toxicology.
Michael I Lewis is a Professor of Medicine and pulmonary and critical care specialist at Cedars Sinai Medical Center. He is currently the medical director of the Respiratory Therapy Department and executive chair of the IRB at Cedars. He has been involved in pulmonary hypertension (PH) since coming to Cedars Sinai in 1987. He was formally a program director of the pulmonary/critical care Fellowship program and director of the Respiratory ICU for 20 years.
Dr. Vito Terlizzi is a Paediatric Medical Doctor at Meyer Paediatric Hospital working full time at Cystic Fibrosis Center. He coordinated multicentric studies on the correlation genotype- phenotype in cystic fibrosis, and conducted scientific papers on issues related to cystic fibrosis such as neonatal screening or CFTR modulator drugs. He has 43 publications to his credit.
Andrea Aliverti is a full professor of Bioengineering at the Politecnico of Milano University, Italy (Department of Electronics, Information, and Bioengineering), where he is the Chairman (Coordinator) of the Ph.D. Programme in Bioengineering. He is responsible for Lares (Respiratory Analysis Lab) at the Biomedical Technology Laboratory (TBM-Lab). His main research interests include the bioengineering of the respiratory system, physiological measurements; biomedical instrumentation and sensors; lung imaging. He has authored more than 150 papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals, 13 book chapters, editor of 3 books, and inventor of 13 patents. Currently, he is Secretary of the Clinical Physiology, Sleep and Pulmonary Circulation Assembly, member of the ERS Education Council, and Chairman of the ERS Task Force ‘Functional evaluation of lung and airways’.
Demosthenes Bouros is a graduate of the Medical School of the Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki and a Ph.D. of the University of Athens. He was a research fellow at the Harvard University in Boston, a Visiting Assistant Professor at the Boston University, senior Research Associate at the Royal Brompton Hospital, and ERS visiting professor of the Medical University of Vienna. He is currently a Professor of Pneumonology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece. He has published >400 articles in national and international peer-review journals, has >10.000 citations, H index 45, he wrote >40 chapters in books, is a member of the Editorial Board of many medical journals. He is a member of the committee for the development of many guidelines. He has been elected as a foundation member of the Fellows of the European Respiratory Society (FERS). His main research interests include the pathogenetic mechanisms and treatment of interstitial lung diseases.
Arnold R. Brody, Ph. D. currently is Professor Emeritus in the Pathology Department at the Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans, LA. He received a Ph.D. in Cell Biology at Colo. St. Univ. Following three years of post-doc at Ohio St. Univ. he was an Assist. Prof. in the Pathology Dept. at the Univer. of VT. After 15 years at the Nat. Inst. of Env. Hlth. Sci., Dr. Brody was a full professor in the Pathol. Dept. at Tulane. He was the Vice Chairman of the Dept. from 1999 to 2006. After 5 years in the Dept. of Molec. Biomed. Sci. at NC St. Univ., he retired and was honored with Emeritus status at Tulane in 2012. Dr. Brody has published more than 150 peer-reviewed papers and 55 invited reviews, most of which deal with the fundamental mechanisms through which inhaled asbestos causes disease.
Dr. Francesco Dispenza is Professor of Otorhinolaryngology at University of Palermo Hospital, Italy.His field of expertise are nose and paranasal sinuses pathology and surgery, ear surgery and otoneurology.He attended more than 100 international conferences and published more than 100 articles in international journals.
After graduating in medicine, Dr. Domingo completed his Residency in Pulmonary Medicine from 1986-1989 in the HGTiP of Badalona (Barcelona). He also trained at the Cardio-Pulmonary Transplantation Unit of the Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas (USA) and l’Unité de Soins Intensifs in Lyon (France). He obtained a doctorate (Ph.D.) in Medicine from the Autonomous University of Barcelona in 1991. He also holds a Master in Health Economy from the Pompeu Fabra University of Barcelona. Currently, Dr. Domingo is Senior Consultant of Pulmonary Medicine at the Corporació Parc Taulí (Sabadell, Barcelona) and Professor of Medicine at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. He has published more than 100 scientific papers and he is also the director of the several doctoral thesis of pulmonologists, internists, and pediatricians. Dr. Domingo was the founding Editor (2000) and is currently the Editor-in-Chief of The Open Respiratory Medicine Journal (TORMJ) published by Bentham Science Publishers.
Dr. Duong-Quy Sy graduated with PhD of Sciences in Physiopathology of Respiratory System from Paris Est University in 2009 and post-PhD Research in Paris Descartes University after his PhD of Sciences. He was also Physician of Respiratory Diseases and Lung Functional Testing in Haut Lévêque Hospital – Bordeaux (2001-2002 and 2003-2004) and Cochin Hospital – Paris (2005-2017). Dr. Duong-Quy Sy is now Director of Lam Dong Medical College and Medical-Biological Research Center. He is Professor at the Penn State University, College of Medicine since February 2016. Dr. Duong-Quy Sy is also a Professor of Medicine in the Department of Allergy-Immunology of Hershey Medical Center in Pennsylvania – USA. Dr. Duong-Quy Sy has experience in basic science and clinical research in the field of airway inflammation and allergy, childhood asthma, exhaled nitric oxide measurement, COPD, lung fibrosis, sleep apnea in children and adult, and pulmonary hypertension. He has published more than 100 manuscripts in prestigious international peer review journals and international conferences. He is currently Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Functional Ventilation and Pulmonology.
Dr. El Solh is a Professor of Medicine and Anesthesiology at the State University of New York at Buffalo. He is the Director of Research at the VA Western New York Healthcare System. He holds a MPH in Health Administration from the Medical College of Wisconsin. He has published more than 250 publications between peer reviewed original papers, abstracts, and book chapters. He holds three patents on screening and diagnosis of sleep disorders.
Sebastian L Johnston is a Professor of Respiratory Medicine & Allergy at the National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London. He is the Director of Allergic Mechanisms of Asthma at the MRC & Asthma UK Centre in, is the UK Clinical Professor of Asthma and is a Senior Research Investigator at UK National Institute of Health. He edited Thorax from 2002-2010 and serves as associate editor or on the editorial board of several other Respiratory and Allergy Journals. He has published >400 scholarly manuscripts and 18 patents. His notable achievements include establishing the viral aetiology of the majority of asthma and COPD exacerbations, discovering novel mechanisms of susceptibility to virus infection in asthma and COPD, and developing novel treatment approaches for acute exacerbations of these diseases.
Hiroaki Kume obtained MD from Toyama Medical and Pharmaceutical University in 1982 and completed PhD in Respiratory Medicine at Nagoya University School of Medicine in 1990. Currently based at Kindai University Faculty of Medicine (Osakasayama, Osaka Prefecture, Japan), he focuses on investigating the characteristics of beta2-adrenergic and muscarinic receptors in airway smooth muscle using physiological methods, and the characteristics of inflammation in the airways, with the goal of identifying therapeutic molecular targets for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Dr. Chiara Lazzeri qualifications include Degree in Medicine from University of Florence (1988), a degree in Internal Medicine from University of Florence (1993), a degree in Cardiology from University of Florence (1999), and a degree in Anesthesiology and Intensive Care from University of Pisa (2008). Since 1999, she has been working in the Azienda Ospedaliero- Universitaria Careggi (currently in the Intensive Care Unit and Regional ECMO Referral center). Dr. Lazzeri has numerous publications and honors to her credit.
Dr. Caterina Ledda (MSc, Ph.D.) works at Clinical pathology and Clinical molecular biology Laboratory at Garibaldi Hospital of Catania (Italy). During her Ph.D., she developed an interest in Naturally Occurring Asbestos (NOA). Her main interest lies in the mechanisms underpinning the development of thoracic disease and its comorbidities. Dr. Leda is passionate about understanding the modulation of key pathophysiological pathways (that have been proved to be deleterious for health with particular focus on the molecular mechanisms underlying the effect of external agents on respiratory systems).
Dr. Carlos M. Luna, is a Professor of Pulmonary Medicine and Internal Medicine, at the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina. He has published more than 100 articles in peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Luna is the Director of the Postgraduate Training Program (fellowship in Pulmonary Medicine) at the Faculty of Medicine, Universidad de Buenos Aires, and the head of the Pulmonary Diseases Division, Department of Internal Medicine at the Hospital de Clínicas, Universidad de Buenos Aires. His basic, clinical, and epidemiological research interest is the diagnosis, therapy, and prevention of respiratory tract infections, particularly community-acquired pneumonia and nosocomial pneumonia/ventilator-associated pneumonia.
Dr. Madison is Chief of the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine and Professor of Medicine and Microbiology and Physiological Systems at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. He received his medical training at Harvard Medical School, Washington University, and UCSF. During his 26 years at the University of Massachusetts he has devoted his career to NIH-funded basic research, teaching, and clinical care. His main research interest has been calcium signaling in airway smooth muscle and his main clinical interests have included asthma, COPD, and the diagnosis and management of chronic cough. He has over 90 publications, reviews and chapters and he also has served on editorial boards and is a section editor for major textbooks.
Dr. P.A.Mahesh is currently a Professor and Head of the Department of Chest and Tuberculosis, J.S.S. Medical College, Mysore. He did MBBS degree from Kasturba Medical College, University of Mangalore, India in 1992. Dr. Mahesh has numerous honors, awards and publications to his credit.
Mauro Maniscalco is the director of the pulmonary rehabilitation unit and the head of the research laboratory on “Inflammation of Airways” at the Research Institute ICS Maugeri of Telese (Italy). He was a fellow-research at Papworth and Addenbrooke’s Hospitals of Cambridge (UK), completing his Ph.D. from the Department of Pharmacology at Karolinska Institute of Stockholm. At the moment, he is carrying out research on the characterization of biomolecular markers in exhaled breath condensate (EBC) of patients with respiratory disorders. In particular, he is characterizing the metabolomic phenotypes in patients with asthma, COPD, cystic fibrosis, and obesity.
Dr. Marson is researcher from Unicamp acting in the multidisciplinary research group of Asthma and Cystic Fibrosis, being one of the responsible by Medical Genetics studies, including the studies of Asthma prevalence and severity, and in Cystic Fibrosis, with studies on CFTR mutations screening, cystic fibrosis diagnosis and clinical modulation by modifier genes. He is responsible for the statistical analysis of (i) modifier genes and severity of respiratory diseases, (ii) methods/tools for Cystic Fibrosis diagnosis, (iii) epidemiological analysis regarding respiratory diseases, (iv) risk factor for cancer, (v) bacterial modulation on the clinical severity of Cystic Fibrosis, (vi) and in the use of Multifactor Dimensionality Reduction tool. In total, more than eighty papers were published in the area of genetics and respiratory diseases in the last four years. Actually, he acts as a biostatistician in the Brazilian Study Groups for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease and Medical Genetics Group led by Professor Carmen Silvia Bertuzzo and Professor José Dirceu Ribeiro, respectively.
Brooke Taylor Mossman is a University Distinguished Professor of Pathology at the University of Vermont College of Medicine. She has studied the development of lung and pleural diseases associated with inhalation of toxic minerals for approximately 40 years. She has authored more than 300 papers, monographs and book chapters on her research.
Dr. Nicolini received a Medical Degree from the University of Genoa. He is board-certified in pulmonary diseases and respiratory pathophysiology and rehabilitation. He is currently Director of Respiratory Diseases Unit, Hospital of Sestri Levante – Italy, and Professor of Pulmonology at Physiotherapy and Physical Medicine, University of Genoa. Dr. Nicolini is currently Secretary of Study group of Intensive Care of Italian Society of Pulmonology (ISP). He is author of over 100 peer-reviewed articles and several book chapters. He is a reviewer for multiple international journals in the fields of respiratory diseases.
Dr. Giovanni Piedimonte is currently Professor Ȧ Chair of Pediatrics of the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University. He also serves as Chairman of the Cleveland Clinic Pediatric Institute, Physician-in-Chief of the Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital, and President of the Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital for Rehabilitation in Ohio. He is responsible for all clinical, financial, academic, operational, professional and strategic issues pertaining one of the largest service lines in the Cleveland Clinic enterprise, including more than 365 physicians and 1,200 nurses, with annual gross revenues in excess of $1 billion and operating budget of $284M.
Bernhard RYFFEL is MD, Ph.D., graduated in Basel, and was appointed Professor at the University of Cape Town and is now director of research in Immunology at CNRS in Orleans, France with a vibrant research team. His field of research is Immunology and pulmonary inflammation and infection; His expertise is in Innate immune sensing of pathogens and danger signals, inflammasome activation, the role of IL-1 and IL-1 family members especially IL-33, Th17, and Th22 differentiation, the role of aryl hydrocarbon receptor, the role of microbiota on tissue homeostasis and inflammation, obesity and diabetes. He is an editorial board member of PLOS One, Molecular Biology, Med Microbiol Immunity, World Journal Immunology, Am J Clin Exp Imm, Int J Exp Pathology. He has a number of scientific publications in major scientific journals.
P. ShanmugaRaju is the Assoc. Professor & I/C Head, Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation at Chalmeda Anand Rao Institute of Medical Sciences, Karimnagar, India. Currently, he is an Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Chalmeda Anand Rao Institute of Medical Sciences, India. He has published more than 35 articles in peer-reviewed journals, authored 3 books and 12 book chapters. He is an editorial board member of the American Journal of Neurology & Neurosurgery, Clinical Medicine, and American Journal of Sports Science & Medicine, USA.
Dr. Steele graduated with honors from Tulane University School of Medicine and elected to the AOA Honor Medical Society. He completed a fellowship in infectious diseases and immunology at Georgetown and the NIH. He has been on the faculty of the medical schools in Hawaii, the University of Texas in San Antonio, Arkansas, LSU, Tulane, and the University of Queensland. Awards include 14 Teacher of the Year and 4 Golden Apple awards, and most recently a Lifetime Contribution to Education Award from the American Academy of Pediatrics. He has published over 380 journal articles, 26 book chapters, and 9 books on pediatric infectious diseases. He is editor of Clinical Pediatrics, Global Pediatric Health, and the pediatric infectious section of E-Medicine (MedScape) and has been a member of the Red Book committee of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
M.Takeuchi is interested in pulmonary immunology, toxicology, nanomedicine, immunology, immuno-pharmacology and immuno-pathology. M.Takeuchi has authored more than 100 articles and book chapters on the immunological effects of tobacco smoke including nanoparticles, pulmonary disease, natural product and cancer. He is a leading expert in tobacco smoke research, pulmonary disease, immune effect of natural product and cancer immune therapy. M.Takeuchi leads an active research program in tobacco smoke including nanoparticles with funding from national. He is a senior research professor supervising much useful research to undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD students. M.Takeuchi and his fellow researchers are conducting further research in the field of pulmonary immunology, toxicology and nanomedicine.
Full Professor in Medicine at the University of Barcelona (UB) and Head of the Respiratory Intesive Care Unit at Hospital Clínic, Prof Antonio Torres is considered a physician of reference both nationally and internationally in lung infections, including pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), bronchiectasis, immunocompromised patients, weaning, noninvasive ventilation (NIV), and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS-ALI). He has published more than 380 original articles. His H-Index is now 91 (scopus).
Hector O. Ventura, MD, is the Section Head, Cardiomyopathy and Heart Transplant Center at the Ochsner Clinic Foundation, New Orleans, Louisiana. He is also a Professor of Cardiology at The University of Queensland School of Medicine, Ochsner Clinical School, Brisbane, Australia as well as a Professor of Medicine at the Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans. After graduating from the National University of Buenos Aires School of Medicine in Argentina, Dr. Ventura completed research fellowships in arterial hypertension and cardiovascular diseases, an internship, and an internal medicine residency at the Ochsner Medical Institutions and a fellowship in heart failure/heart transplantation at the Loyola University School of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois. Dr. Ventura has co-authored more than 550 articles, abstracts, and book chapters and is on the editorial board of several cardiology Journals. He is also the associate editor of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology Heart Failure.
Associate Professor Ross Vlahos is a Principal Research Fellow and Head of the Respiratory Research Group in the School of Health and Biomedical Sciences, RMIT University, Australia. His research aims to identify novel strategies for the prevention and treatment of COPD and its co-morbidities with a focus on the cellular and molecular pathways that underpin cigarette smoke-induced lung inflammation and damage. Ross has co-authored more than 80 publications in peer reviewed journals, has had continuous National Health & Medical Research Council (Australia) funding since 2001 and has played a major role in commercially funded work that has confidentiality/patent agreements. He has served on national and international Grant Review Panels, various conference committees and Chaired sessions at international meetings.
Dr. Ward is the Godfrey D. Stobbe Professor of Pathology at the University of Michigan Medical School. He received B.S. and M.D. degrees and completed a residency in Anatomic Pathology, all from the University of Michigan. He became Professor and then Chair of the Department of Pathology, University of Connecticut Health Center, thereafter becoming Chair of the Department of Pathology at the University of Michigan Medical Center (1980-2005). His research programs have long focused on the relationship between the complement system and the inflammatory system, indicating that complement plays a key role in enhancing biological responses, and the interactions between the complement activation product, C5a, a powerful proinflammatory peptide that reacts with its receptors (C5aR1, C5aR2) on a variety of cells, especially phagocytes (neutrophils and macrophages). Dr. Ward has authored over 700 scientific publications on his research. His most current studies relate to determining how C5a disrupts [Ca2+]i homeostasis in cardiomyocytes.
Dr. Divakar Sharma is a Biotechnologist recognized in the field of Microbial Proteome research, particularly for Tuberculosis and other infectious diseases, especially in drug-resistant and drug-induced studies. Dr. Sharma is currently affiliated with Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India, and he has studied at many universities and holds multiple degrees, including an M.Sc. degree in Biotechnology from C.S.J.M. University, India, and a Ph.D. degree in Biotechnology from Jiwaji University, India. His research has a high clinical relevance that leads to the development of diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines against drug resistant tuberculosis and other infectious diseases. He has various scientific contributions in journals of international repute.
Sezer Ulukaya received a B.Sc. degree in Electronics Engineering from Ankara University, Turkey and an M.Sc. degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Bahçeşehir University, Turkey in 2008 and 2011, respectively. He is currently a post-doc member in the Lung Acoustics Laboratory(LAL) in Electrical and Electronics Engineering Department at Boğaziçi University, Turkey where he got a Ph.D. degree in 2017 in the same department. His Ph.D. thesis is about Time-Frequency and TimeScale Analysis, Decomposition, and Classification of Adventitious Pulmonary Sounds. His research interests are in signal processing, machine learning, and pattern recognition with applications to facial biometrics and pulmonary sounds.
Dr. Weiqiang Zhang is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics and Department of Physiology at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (Memphis, TN, USA). He received his PhD from University of Wales, Swansea (Swansea, UK) and did his postdoctoral training at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. Dr. Zhang’s research is focused on the basic and translational study of cystic fibrosis and other pulmonary diseases.
Dr. Covanțev graduated from State University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Nicolae Testemitanu", Chisinau,Moldova. He then pursued a residency in general surgery at Botkin Clinical Hospital in Moscow. Early in his career he participated in multiple research projects in fundamental and clinical sciences. His key interests are multidisciplinary interactions and translational research. He has written over 50 peer-reviewed articles,several book chapters and books. He is a reviewer for multiple reputed journals in the field of respiratory diseases, critical care, thoracic and general surgery.
Dr Alan Fein received his Medical Degree from the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn in 1973. He completed an internship and residency in Internal Medicine at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx Municipal Hospital, New York. He is currently the Medical Director for the ProHEALTH Sleep Center. Dr Alan Fein is currently on the editorial boards of Current Opinion in Pulmonary Medicine, Seminars in Respiratory Infection, and proceedings of the American Thoracic Society. He is a reviewer for many journals, including the American Review of Respiratory and Critical Care, Chest, and Journal of the American Medical Association. Dr Fein has authored almost 100 Peer-reviewed manuscripts and over 100 review articles and book chapters on such topics as diagnosis and treatment of pneumonia, management of acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and tropical lung disease.
Sara Manti is an MD, Pediatrician, PhD, University Researcher at Pediatric Unit, Department of Human and Pediatric Pathology & Gaetano "Barresi" University of Messina, Messina, Italy. She received her doctor of medicine degree from the University of Messina, Italy. She graduated as a Pediatric Specialist at the University of Messina, Italy. She earned her PhD and Doctor Europaeus in 2018 in "Biotechnology in Medicine and Surgery", University of Messina, Messina, Sicily, Italy. Her research experience is focused on allergology and pulmonology in the paediatric population. She has published book chapters and articles in peer-reviewed journals. She has about 133 publications to her credit.
