FACULTY

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As a respiratory physician with a keen clinical and scientific interest in asthma, severe asthma and COPD, he joined the Ghent University Hospital in 2002. Since 2008, he is professor of medicine at Ghent University,
teaching “Study design” and “Immunopathology of airway diseases” to medical and biomedical students, respectively. Since 2015, he teaches the course “Methods and design of clinical studies” to master students in pharmaceutical sciences.
Currently, he is head of the Laboratory for Translational Research of Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases at Ghent University. From September 2012 to October 2015, he has served the European Respiratory Society (ERS) as Guidelines Director. Since September 2016, he is the chair of the ERS Science Council. Since September 2017, he is member of the Scientific Committee of the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) and he has joined the Board of Directors of GINA.

GUY BRUSSELLE

Ghent, Belgium

Guy Brusselle received his medical degree (M.D.) at Ghent University in 1990. Investigating the functional role of cytokines interleukin-4 (IL-4) and interleukin-5 (IL-5) in allergic asthma, he obtained his Ph.D. in 1997.

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In 1978 he graduated cum laude from the School of Medicine of Catholic University in Rome and in 1982 obtained the diploma in Respiratory Diseases at the University of Parma. He is reviewer for several scientific journals and member of the Editorial Board of Chest and Respiration. His main fields of interest are exercise tolerance, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease as well as history of medicine. He is author of several scientific papers published in peer-review journals, 163 of them available in pubmed.

ALFREDO CHETTA

Parma, Italy

Alfredo Chetta is Full Professor in Respiratory Medicine at the University of Parma and Head of Respiratory Disease and Lung Function Unit at the University Hospital of Parma.

ENRICO MARIA CLINI

Reggio Emilia, Italy

Born in Milan on April 8th 1962. Medical degree "maximum cum laude" in July 1987 (University of Milan). Speciality in Pulmonary Diseases in November 1987 (University of Milan) and in Pharmacology in July 1992 (University of Milan).

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MD learning assistant at the Institute of Respiratory Diseases of the Univeristy of Milan (1987-1991); Pulmonologist assistant and then Chief-Assistant at the Respiratory Department of the Salvatore Maugeri Foundation IRCCS-Gussago-BS (1991-2001); Head Pulmonologist of the Respiratory Department and Respiratory Intensive Care Unit of the Villa Pineta Hospital and Foundation – Gaiato-MO (2001-2016); Director of the Unit of Pneumology at the University Hospital of Modena-Policlinico (2016-to date). Associate Professor in Respiratory Medicine at the University of Modena Reggio Emilia (2005-to date); Member of the Board of Professors at the PhD Course on “Fisiopatologia Sperimentale e diagnostica funzionale e per immagini del sistema cardio-polmonare “ (round XXVIII) at the University of Parma (2013); Member of the Board of Professors at the PhD Course on “Clinical and Experimental Medicine“ (round XXXIII) at the University of Modena (2015-to date). Director of the Post-doctoral School in Respiratory Diseases at the University of Modena-Reggio Emilia (2011-to date); Director of School of Physiotherapy at the University of Modena-Reggio Emilia (2018-to date).

JANE DAVIES

London, UK

Prof Davies works between the National Heart & Lung Institute, Imperial College London and the Royal Brompton Hospital.

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Her main clinical and research interests are in cystic fibrosis and include trials of new therapies, airway infection and inflammation. Her site is a highly active member of both the European CF Society’s (ECFS) Clinical Trials Network and the UK CF Trust’s Clinical Trials Accelerator Platform. She has led on the design and implementation of trials of small molecule CFTR modulators in adults and children, the latter requiring the development of sensitive pulmonary outcome measures. To this end, she established and directs the ECFS’ Core Facility for Lung Clearance Index. Here, she will describe the sequential developments that have led to highly effective triple combination therapy, the first modulator approach aimed at the vast majority of patients with CF. To date, phase 2 data have been published, and results of phase 3 trials are eagerly awaited.

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Visiting Research Fellow, Department of Respiratory Diseases, Tulane University (1980-1981) and at Cardiovascular Research Institute, University California, San Francisco, USA (1981-1983). Served as Chief Editor for European Respiratory Review and of the European Respiratory Monograph and Associate Editor of the European Respiratory Journal, and is still Associate Editor of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Lancet Respiratory Medicine, European Journal of Clinical Investigation, Canadian Respiratory Journal. He was member of the Executive Committee of the Global Initiative on Asthma (GINA) (1990–2001). Founding Member and Chairman of Scientific Committee (2001-2015) of the Global Initiative on Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) from 1997 until 2017. He was President of the European Respiratory Society (ERS) 2007-2008. He has published > 500 papers in peer reviewed journal plus several book chapters.

LEONARDO M. FABBRI

Gothenburg, Sweden

Leonardo M. Fabbri was Professor and Director of Internal Medicine and of Respiratory Medicine at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia until 2016. Then he became Eminent Scholar of Respiratory and Internal Medicine, (2017-) Visiting Professor of Respiratory and Internal Medicine Sahlgrenska University Hospital, University of Gothenburg (-2017)

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Since 2009, dr. Franssen works as a respiratory physician, medical coordinator and management staff member in CIRO+, a center for specialized treatments for patients with chronic respiratory diseases in Horn, the Netherlands. Also, he’s staff member at the department of Respiratory Medicine in Maastricht University Medical Center in Maastricht, the Netherlands. His current research is embedded in the Department of Research and Education of CIRO+ and School of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism of Maastricht University in Maastricht, the Netherlands. At the latter, he holds a position as a senior clinical researcher. Dr. Franssens research focuses on unraveling the pathophysiology, complexity and heterogeneity of COPD and its extra-pulmonary features and comorbidities, pulmonary rehabilitation and individualised interventions for COPD.
Dr. Franssen is the current chair of ERS Scientific Group 01.02. He’s a member of the current ERS Taskforce ‘Standardisation of Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing in Chronic Lung Diseases’ and was involved in several ATS/ERS Taskforces before. He is a co-author of >170 peer-reviewed English-language articles.

frits franssen

Maastricht, The Netherlands

Dr. Franssen finished his training as a respiratory physician in 2009 and in the same year obtained his PhD at Maastricht University in Maastricht, the Netherlands. His thesis focused on skeletal muscle function of the lower and upper limbs in patients with COPD and on substrate metabolism in relation to alterations in body composition.

REINOUD GOSENS

Groningen, The Netherlands

Reinoud Gosens is Associate Professor of Translational Pharmacology at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. He has an MSc in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Groningen and a PhD from the Department of Molecular Pharmacology at the University of Groningen.

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Dr Gosens has undertaken research fellowships at the University of Manitoba, Canada, and the University of Groningen. He is a member of the American Thoracic Society (ATS), the American Physiological Society, the European Respiratory Society (ERS), the Dutch Pharmacological Society and the Netherlands Respiratory Society. He is conferences and seminars director for ERS, board member of the Groningen Research Institute for Pharmacy (GRIP), programme leader of the Groningen Research Institute for Asthma and COPD (GRIAC) and chair of the scientific advisory board of the Netherlands Lung Foundation. Dr Gosens’ current research interests are focused on mechanisms that regulate structural remodelling and repair of the airways and parenchyma in asthma and COPD. Identifying novel therapeutics for chronic lung disease is my long-term scientific goal. In this endeavour, I have focused my past work on mechanisms of chronic inflammation and tissue remodelling, and lung repair. A major interest that I have is how the WNT pathway controls lung repair.

STEFANO NAVA

Bologna, Italy

Full-time Professor of Respiratory and Critical Care University of Bologna; Director of the fellowship progam. Chief of the Respiratory and Critical Care Sant’ Orsola Malpighi Hospital in Bologna, Italy. Former Associate professor at: Pavia, Catania and Bologna Universities Specialist in Respiratory Medicine and Intensive Care Medicine. Associate Editor of Breathe, Respiratory Care and European Respiratory Review

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Previous Associate Editor of Intensive Care Medicine. Previous member of the Editorial Board of Thorax. Reviewers of more than 10 international peer-reviewed journals, including the Lancet, American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. Chairman of the Intensive Care assembly at the European Respiratory Society (2007-2010). Director of the ERS Post-Graduate Courses (2011-2015). Previous member of the European Respiratory School. Previous chair of the non-invasive ventilator support group inside the ERS. He was involved in the last 7 years as a member of the Assembly (Critical Care) Program Committee at the ATS. Chairman of the International Program Committee of the American Thoracic Society for 2008-2009. He has published 221 papers on peer-reviewed journals. Latest H index= 56 (total number of citations = 12.826) n. 36 on the list of Top Italian Scientists Clinical Sciences. He was enrolled in several clinical trials. Major fields of interest: mechanical ventilation, weaning, respiratory muscle and ethics. In particular he has developed the use of non-invasive mechanical ventilation as a weaning technique .

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His research interests are on the mechanisms and treatment of asthma. He has been elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and to the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. He has also been appointed Distinguished University Professor at McMaster University. He is the Asthma Section Editor for European Respiratory Journal and has been a previous Deputy Editor of American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, and Associate Editor of Chest and Thorax.

PAUL M O'BYRNE

Dublin, Ireland

Paul M. O’Byrne obtained his Medical Degree at University College, Dublin. He is currently the Dean and Vice President of the Faculty of Health Sciences at McMaster University.

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He has also been Chairman of the ERS Annual Congress (Firenze, 1993) and of the World Congress on Lung Health (Firenze, 2000). He received the “Distinguished Fellow Award” (Seattle, 2004) and the “Master Fellow ACCP” Award (San Diego, 2009) by the American College of Chest Physicians, the Educational Award by the European Respiratory Society (Amsterdam, 2011), the Gold Medal “Carlo Forlanini” (1988), “Le Colonne Award”(2003) and “La Vela Latina Award” (2012) for Scientific Research. He is Doctor honoris causa at the University of Coimbra (Portugal, 2001). He is involved in the Editorial Board of several international journals and is the Scientific Director of the review European Respiratory News. He is the author of 550 scientific papers, most of them published in peer-reviewed journals (260 in PubMed), 35 book chapters and monographs, 39 books as editor/co-editor.

DARIO OLIVIERI

Parma, Italy

Dario Olivieri, Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma. He has been President of the European Respiratory Society (ERS) in 1993-1994, International Regent of the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) from 1994 to 2000 and from 2010 to 2012, Member of Board of Directors (1994-95) and Program and Budget Committee (2001-2003) at the American Thoracic Society.

alberto papi

Ferrara, Italy

Alberto Papi is Professor of Respiratory Medicine at the University of Ferrara, Italy, and Director of the Respiratory Unit of the Department of Emergency Medicine, S. Anna University Hospital, Ferrara, Italy.

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Professor Papi trained in respiratory medicine at the University of Parma, before spending 4 years in the UK as a Clinical Research Fellow at the University of Southampton, where he is an Honorary Clinical Lecturer. In 2015, he was made a Fellow of the European Respiratory Society. He is Member of the GOLD Science Committee. Professor Papi’s principal field of research is airway inflammation in asthma and COPD, its molecular mechanisms and pharmacological modulation. In his studies, he has taken particular interest in the role of respiratory viral infections in stable/exacerbated obstructive lung diseases, and the underlying molecular and immunological mechanisms. He has coordinated several studies, particularly in asthma and COPD, and he has given presentations at national and international meetings. He has published more than 300 original articles in peer-reviewed journals, and several publications in non-peer-reviewed journals.

FABIO L.M. ricciardolo

Torino, Italy

Medical School graduation in 1989; Ph.D. in Respiratory Medicine in 1996; Specialist in Respiratory Medicine in 1997; Research Fellowship at the University of California San Francisco (USA: 1992-1993); Post-DOC Research Fellowship at the University of Leiden (The Netherlands: 1997-1999). Current academic role: Associate Professor in Respiratory Medicine at the University of Torino;

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Qualified Full Professor in Respiratory Medicine (2017) and Internal Medicine (2017). Publications quoted in PubMed: 119 (including papers in top/prestigious journals such as Lancet, AJRCCM, JACI, Thorax, ERJ, Physiological Review, Allergy, Clinical Experimental Allergy, Br J Pharmacology etc.) H-index: ISI Web 31, Scopus 32 and Google Scholar 38. Roles in scientific journals: Since March 2015: Associate Editor of ERJ Open Research; Since July 2017: Academic Editor of PLOS One; Since August 2017: Member of the Editorial Board of the European Journal of Pharmacology. International scientific Awards:
1) European Respiratory Society award (second prize) for poster presentation at the ERS Meeting held in Berlin, 1997; 2) European Respiratory Society award (first prize) assigned by the Allergy and Clinical Immunology Assembly at the Annual Meeting held in Berlin, 2001; 3) Fellow of ERS 2019. Activities in the Scientific Societies: Member of the ERS Long-Range Planning Committee (appointed from ERS assembly 5), December 2017. Elected secretary of the 5.2 group Monitoring Airway Diseases (ERS Assembly 5), January 2019.

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He graduated from Cambridge University and then trained in clinical pharmacology and respiratory medicine in Manchester, including postgraduate research. His research interest is the development of new drugs for asthma and COPD, involving clinical trials, biomarker studies and basic mechanisms. He has over 250 publications. He is a member of the GOLD Science Committee, and the chair of the ERS airway pharmacology group. He is the medical director of the Medicines Evaluation Unit, which performs both early and late phase clinical trials.

dave singh

Manchester, UK

Dave Singh is professor of clinical pharmacology & respiratory medicine at the University of Manchester.

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Professor Suissa has conducted many studies on the effects of medications used for different chronic diseases, including for asthma, COPD and IPF, and authored over 500 peer-reviewed papers. He specializes in research methods and serves on the editorial boards of various scientific journals, including the European Respiratory Journal, Chest, Lancet Respiratory Medicine, and Journal of COPD. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and of the Canadian Academy of Health Science, has received the Distinguished Investigator award from the Canadian Institute of Health Research and the FC Donders Professorship Award from Universiteit Utrecht, Netherlands.

samy suissa

Montreal, Canada

Samy Suissa is Director of the Centre of Clinical Epidemiology, Jewish General Hospital, and he is a Distinguished James McGill Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, and Medicine, at McGill University, Montreal, Canada.

Jørgen Vestbo

Manchester, UK

Jørgen Vestbo is a Professor of Respiratory Medicine at the Division of Infection Immunity and Respiratory Medicine, School of Biological Sciences at the University of Manchester, and Respiratory Theme Lead for the NIHR Manchester Biomedical Research Centre.

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He has worked on cohort studies in Denmark for many years and he co-chaired the 3-year ECLIPSE study aimed at better characterizing COPD. He has been on steering committees of several large COPD efficacy and effectiveness trials, and he is a member of the Scientific Committee of GOLD. JV is Chair of the Advocacy Council of the European Respiratory Society (ERS).