Our Faculty
Dario Olivieri
Bio
Former Full Professor of Respiratory Diseases at the University of Parma and Director of Respiratory Unit at the University-Hospital of Parma (Italy)
He has been President of the European Respiratory Society (ERS), International Regent of the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), Member of Board of Directors and Program and Budget Committee of the American Thoracic Society (ATS).
He has 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” and the “Master Fellow ACCP Award” by the ACCP, the “Educational Award” by the ERS and is “Honorary Member” of ERS.
He is also “Doctor honoris causa” at the University of Coimbra.
He is the author of 260 scientific papers published in peer-reviewed journals, 35 book chapters and monographs, 39 books as editor/co-editor.
Gaetano Caramori
Bio
Full Professor of Respiratory Diseases at the University of Parma. His research focuses on COPD, airway inflammation, and the molecular mechanisms of chronic respiratory diseases. He directs the Pulmonology Academic Clinic and the Laboratory of Translational Molecular Pulmonology, and has authored more than 250 scientific publications. He is also a Fellow of the European Respiratory Society (FERS).
Leonardo M. Fabbri
Bio
Eminent Scholar in Internal and Respiratory Medicine at the University of Ferrara. Formerly Professor and Director of Respiratory Medicine and Internal Medicine at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, he is a past President of the European Respiratory Society (ERS) and a founding member of both GINA and GOLD. His research focused on asthma, COPD, and chronic multimorbidity, he has authored over 650 peer‑reviewed publications, and his Hirsch Index (Scopus May 2026) is 16.
Klaus Rabe
Bio
Professor of Pulmonary Medicine at the University of Kiel and Director of Airway Research Center North (ARCN). A past President of the European Respiratory Society (ERS) and the German Chest Society, he is internationally recognized for his contributions to COPD, asthma, and major clinical trials in respiratory medicine. His research focuses on airway inflammation, early determinants of lung health, and innovative therapies for chronic lung diseases
Alvar Agusti
Bio
Professor of Medicine at the University of Barcelona and a senior consultant at Hospital Clínic de Barcelona. An internationally recognized leader in COPD, asthma, and precision medicine in respiratory diseases, he has played a key role in redefining chronic airway disease mechanisms and advancing personalized approaches to lung health
Stefano Aliberti
Bio
Full Professor of Respiratory Medicine at Humanitas University in Milan, where he also serves as Pro-Rector for Social Responsibility and Director of the Respiratory Medicine Fellowship Program. He is Chief of the Pulmonary Department at IRCCS Humanitas Research Hospital. Prof. Aliberti is an internationally recognized expert in acute and chronic respiratory infection including bronchiectasis, pneumonia, and non-tuberculous mycobacteria. He leads major European research initiatives and contributed extensively to advancing the clinical management and phenotyping of chronic airway diseases
Surya Bhatt
Bio
Professor of Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), specializing in pulmonary, allergy, and critical care medicine. He directs the Center for Lung Analytics and Imaging Research (CLAIR) and leads UAB’s Pulmonary Function Lab. His research focuses on lung imaging and clinical trials in COPD, and is funded by the NIH.
Matteo Bonini
Bio
Professor of Respiratory Medicine at the “Sapienza” University of Rome, Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer at the Imperial College London and a member of the GINA Science Committee. His clinical and research work focuses on chronic obstructive lung diseases with particular reference to asthma and COPD, with significant contributions to translational and clinical research in respiratory immunology
Guy Brusselle
Bio
Respiratory physician at the Department of Respiratory Medicine at Ghent University Hospital and Professor of Medicine at Ghent University. Since 2025 he is the chair of the Board of Directors of the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA). As an internationally recognized expert in asthma, COPD, and airway inflammation, he leads major translational research programs in respiratory immunology and has authored more than five hundred peer‑reviewed publications.
Pierre Regis Burgel
Bio
Professor at the Faculty of Medicine, Université Paris‑Cité, and a pulmonologist at Cochin Hospital in Paris. An expert in cystic fibrosis, bronchiectasis, and COPD, he leads influential clinical and translational research programs and has played a key role in advancing personalized approaches to chronic respiratory conditions
Carlo Castellani
Bio
Senior physician and Director of the Cystic Fibrosis Center (UOSD) at the Istituto Giannina Gaslini in Genoa, Italy. A leading expert in cystic fibrosis, he has contributed extensively to clinical care, newborn screening, genotype–phenotype correlations, and the development of European standards for CF diagnosis and management
Bartolome Celli
Bio
Professor of Medicine at Tufts University and Harvard Medical School in Boston, and a senior pulmonologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. A leading expert in COPD and chronic respiratory diseases, he has over 50 years of clinical and research experience and has contributed extensively to the understanding and management of obstructive lung disease.
Alfredo Chetta
Bio
Honorary Full Professor in Respiratory Medicine at the University of Parma, within the Medicine and Surgery Department. A leading Italian pulmonologist, he has extensive clinical and research experience in asthma, COPD, and pulmonary function testing. Reviewer for numerous scientific journals, he has served on the Editorial Board of Chest, Respiration and Acta Biomed
Marco Contoli
Bio
Associate Professor of Respiratory Medicine at the University of Ferrara, Department of Translational Medicine. He is head of the respiratory unit Azienda USL ferrara. His clinical and research works focus mainly on asthma, COPD, airway inflammation, and viral–host interactions, with significant contributions to translational research in chronic respiratory diseases
Filippo Crea
Bio
Editor‑in‑Chief of the European Heart Journal and Director of the Center of Excellence of Cardiovascular Sciences at the Gemelli-Isola Tiberina Hospital in Rome. A leading cardiologist, his work focuses on coronary microcirculation and acute coronary syndromes
Alejandro A. Diaz
Bio
Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and lead scientist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. His research focuses on advanced imaging for airway diseases, including COPD and bronchiectasis, with internationally recognized contributions to quantitative CT analysis and the characterization of structural lung disease
John Fahy
Bio
Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). A leading international expert in asthma, airway inflammation, airway mucus pathology, and precision medicine, he has pioneered research on airway endotypes, biomarkers, and mechanisms of chronic airway disease, shaping modern approaches to personalized respiratory care
Pieter Goeminne
Bio
MD, PhD, is a Consultant Pulmonologist at VITAZ Hospitals in Sint‑Niklaas, Belgium. He runs a general pulmonology clinic but with over a 100 peer-reviewed articles in bronchiectasis he’s considered a bronchiectasis expert, having co-authored many landmark bronchiectasis papers. He plays an active role in the ERS as member of the Methodology Working Group and several Clinical Research Collaborations such as EMBARC on bronchiectasis, AMR on antimicrobial resistance, AYA on transition in bronchiectasis care and CPA on chronic Aspergillus
Lies Lahousse
Bio
Professor in the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Ghent University and PI Pharmacoepidemiology at Erasmus Medical Center Rotterdam. Her research focuses on respiratory pharmacoepidemiology, with a particular emphasis on asthma, COPD, multimorbidity, and the use of large population‑based cohorts to study respiratory and cardiovascular outcomes. She is widely recognized for her contributions to precision medicine and real‑world evidence in respiratory health
Paola Rogliani
Bio
Professor of Respiratory Medicine at the University of Rome “Tor Vergata” and Chair of Respiratory department at Policlinico Tor Vergata. Her research focuses on asthma, COPD, airway inflammation, and the evaluation of new therapies for chronic respiratory diseases. She serves as Pro‑Rector for International Cooperation and is President of the Italian Respiratory Society (SIP/IRS). She has authored over 500 scientific publications and is actively involved in national and international scientific committees.
Michal Shteinberg
Bio
MD, PhD, is an Associate Professor at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa and a pulmonologist specializing in bronchiectasis, cystic fibrosis, and chronic airway infections. She is a leading figure in Israeli and international research networks, contributing significantly to improving diagnosis, phenotyping, and long‑term management of chronic respiratory diseases
Omar S. Usmani
Bio
Professor of Respiratory Medicine at the National Heart and Lung Institute (NHLI), Imperial College London, and Consultant Physician at the Royal Brompton Hospital and St Mary’s Hospital in London. He also serves as Clinical Director of Respiratory Trials at the Imperial Clinical Respiratory Research Unit (ICRRU). An internationally recognized expert in aerosol science, inhaled drug delivery, and airway diseases such as asthma and COPD, he has led pioneering research shaping modern inhalation therapy and respiratory clinical trials
Marteen van den Berge
Bio
Pulmonologist and full professor at the University Medical Center Groningen, the Netherlands. He is involved in clinical and translational research with a focus on applying multi-omics analyses to unravel the mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of asthma and COPD. He is a member of the ERS and associate editor for Respirology. Maarten van den Berge supervises more than 20 PhD candidates and published more than 300 manuscripts in international peer-reviewed scientific journals
„Helmholtz Munich / © Matthias Tunger“
Erika Von Mutius
Bio
Head of the Department of Environmental Health at the Helmholtz Zentrum München – German Research Center for Environmental Health and Professor of Pediatrics at Ludwig‑Maximilians‑Universität Munich. A world‑leading expert in environmental determinants of asthma and allergic diseases, she has pioneered research on how early‑life exposures, in particular microbial environment, shape respiratory health
Min Zhang
Bio
Professor in the Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine at Shanghai General Hospital, affiliated with the Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine. Her major clinical research is in early diagnose of mild asthma, and individual treatment on severe asthma, and also concentrate on COPD and pulmonary infection diseases. organizing guidelines for bronchial asthma prevention and management in China