Faculty members

François Abel

Dr Francois Abel is the lead for the Paediatric Sleep Service at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) since 2012, having trained in Paediatric Respiratory Medicine and Sleep in the Catholic University of Louvain in Brussels, Sydney Children’s Hospital at Westmead and at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children.  In addition, he has a postgraduate certificate in Paediatric Sleep Sciences from the University of Western Australia.
Dr Abel has a wealth of clinical experience in complex sleep related breathing disorders in complex conditions (craniofacial, metabolic, neuromuscular, genetics) and chronic ventilation disorders. His clinical roles include sleep and respiratory leadership and multidisciplinary advice at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children to teams like the neuromuscular, craniofacial, spinal or metabolic teams.
Dr Abel has been co-chair the British Paediatric Sleep Society since its creation in 2015 with aim to promote awareness of paediatric sleep issues in the UK. It has since been recognised as a special interest group with the Royal College Of Paediatric And Child Health.
Dr Abel has been invited faculty at national and international meetings including the European Respiratory Society, the International Paediatric Sleep Association and the International Conference on Paediatric Non-Invasive Ventilation. His publications cover topics including the management of upper airway obstruction in Pierre Robin patients, hypoventilation in Prader-Willi patients, sleep disordered breathing in craniofacial disorders and a systematic review on paediatric obstructive sleep apnoea amongst others. He was a member of the ERS Taskforce on Paediatric Obstructive Sleep Apnoea and is currently co-chairing the ERS Taskforce on Paediatric Central Sleep Apnoea and a member of the Taskforce on Paediatric Non-Invasive Ventilation

His research priorities focus on paediatric sleep and in particular sleep-related breathing and ventilation disorders. This includes research focus on the increasing cohort of patients requiring long- term ventilation.

Israel Amirav

Israel Amirav is a Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.  He is currently doing a sabbatical at Dana-Dwek Children’s hospital in Tel Aviv Israel.
He earned his M.D degree from the Tel Aviv University in Israel and did a pediatric Pulmonology fellowship at the Children Hospital of Philadelphia. At that time, he realized the deficiency among health professionals about the science of aerosol therapy and developed a unique educational intervention for health professionals to address their need. Later on, as a clinician he identified the complexity parents face when delivering inhaled treatment to their young babies and children. Dr. Amirav has been instrumental in developing better ways to administer aerosol drugs to infants and young children. His major research contributions are in the field of interfacing between aerosol generator and the child. In that capacity he developed few innovative approaches such as a hood and later has developed the Soothermask which incorporated the infant’s own pacifier into the mask. His studies proved the efficiency of this device and it has received FDA and HC approval and being marketed in North America. His studies contributed to first time understanding of the importance of face mask in aerosol delivery. In 2001 he established the Israeli Society for aerosols in Medicine which is now an integral part of the Israeli Medical Association. Dr Amirav is an active member of ISAM and serves as an editorial member for the Journal of Aerosol Medicine and Pulmonary Drug Delivery. 
Dr Amirav has recently expanded his research areas to include Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia and Global health. He has led and been involved in various international studies about PCD and other cilia-related diseases such as congenital heart diseases and mid-brain anomalies. He is frequently invited to present at international PCD meetings.
With more than 120 peer reviewed publications as his background, Prof. Amirav has recently been devoted to Global Health, particularly in searching for better ways to diagnose childhood pneumonia and reducing mortality from it. He is leading international groups in these efforts.

Louis Bont

Louis Bont, MD, PhD, is a Pediatric Infectious Diseases and Immunology at the Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital of the University Medical Center Utrecht.  He is the founding chairman of ReSViNET, an international respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) research consortium. His specific research interest is RSV pathogenesis and burden of disease. His work focuses on unraveling the role on neutrophil granulocytes, RSV-related mortality and long-term airway disease following RSV infection. He is coordinator of the Interest Group on Respiratory Infections of the European Society of Pediatric Infectious Diseases Research Committee. Dr. Bont is chairman of the Institutional Review Board at the University Medical Center Utrecht, the Netherlands. He is a structural advisor for the World Health Organization, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundations and several pharmaceutical companies. He founded the Training of Upcoming Leaders in Pediatric Science (TULIPS), a successful career training network for clinician scientists in the field of Child Health.

Stéphanie BUI

Dr Bui Stéphanie is a pediatrician, specialized in pediatric pulmonology since 2001 and director of the Pediatric Cystic Fibrosis center in the Department of Pediatrics of the University Hospital in Bordeaux, France.

She is actually MD in the paediatric CF care unit since 2001. She is also in charge of the educational program for Paediatric and adults CF patients since 2010. She is involved as medical coordinator in the regional respiratory networking and has built the tele-homecare monitoring for respiratory diseases in children and adults since 2013. Regarding the national and CF European networking, she is coordinating the inflammatory markers working groups. She has been an expert for the ANSM 2011-2015; and she is implicated in the CTN activities since 2008. She has also been involved as humanitarian MD for the Paediatrician world’s association, for CF children in Moldova 2004-2011 and for children in Calcutta India 1990. Her major achievements are Cystic Fibrosis, pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic, pulmonary inflammation and oxidative stress and respiratory tele-homecare monitoring.

Andrew Bush

Prof. Andrew Bush is the Professor of Paediatrics and Head of Section (Paediatrics), Imperial College, Professor of Paediatric Respirology, National Heart and Lung Institute, and Consultant Paediatric Chest Physician, Royal Brompton Hospital, London UK. He is also Editor in Chief of Thorax, with Professor Ian Pavord.

His main research interests are the invasive and non-invasive assessment of airway inflammation, paediatric clinical physiology, and orphan lung diseases.

See more info about Prof. Andrew Bush here

Malena Cohen Cymberknoh

Prof. Malena Cohen-Cymberknoh, M.D. is Associate Professor in Pediatrics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She is the Head of the Pediatric Pulmonology Unit and the CF Center at Hadassah Medical Center.

Her special research interest fields include Cystic fibrosis, Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia, asthma and other chronic lung disease.

Prof. Cohen-Cymberknoh is involved in CF research as principal investigator of many national and international multi-center clinical trials. She is also involved in international collaborations and teaching CF teams all over the world. Since 2008, Prof. Cohen-Cymberknoh is invited to give lectures and to serve as a moderator in national and international scientific conferences.

Her scientific publications, more than 60, include a number of papers published in some of the highest accredited journals e.g., American Journal of Respiratory Critical Care Medicine, Thorax, Chest, PlosOne, European Respiratory Journal, Respiratory Medicine, Journal of Cystic Fibrosis and Pediatric Pulmonology.

Andrew Colin

Andrew Colin, MD is the Batchelor Professor of Cystic Fibrosis and Pediatric Pulmonology and Chief of the Division of Pediatric Pulmonology, Miller School of Medicine of the University of Miami. He has continually held leadership positions with the International Congresses of Pediatric Pulmonology (CIPP) and served as the President of its 10^th and 11^th Congresses. 

Professor Colin completed fellowships in pediatric pulmonology at Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem and Boston Children's Hospital/Harvard Medical School. He remained at Harvard for 15 years ranked Associate Professor, and at Boston Children’s Hospital served as Clinical Chief of the pulmonary program, he was also in charge of the Pediatric Pulmonary Clerkship of Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Colin published extensively and presented nationally and internationally in areas of his interest: structural and functional development and morbidity of the respiratory system with related physiological measurements, including lung diseases of late prematurity, infants with CF and HIV. Pediatric bronchoscopy. Infectious and inflammatory diseases of the lung. Pediatric Radiology.

He directs the fellowship training program at the University of Miami and trained some 60 fellows in pediatric pulmonology. In 2017, he became the first ever recipient of “PEDS Lifetime Contributions to Pediatric Respiratory Medicine Award” of the ATS Assembly on Pediatrics. At Harvard, he received a Pulmonology Teaching Award named after him, as well as the 2004 Klaus Peter International Teaching Award. He has been named Honorary Fellow of the pediatric pulmonary societies of Philippines, Hong Kong and Thailand.

Adnan Custovic

Adnan Custovic is Clinical Professor of Paediatric Allergy at Imperial College London.  His research has focused upon the origins and natural history of asthma and allergy across the life-course, with an emphasis on prevention and translation for patient benefit. His research findings are of great practical significance, and have informed and changed national and international guidelines on asthma prevention/management. His current research programme combines world-leading expertise in birth cohorts and statistical machine learning, and capitalises on the recent developments within the field of computer sciences to provide powerful new tools that are well suited to the challenge of integration of different scales of data (from molecular-level to population-level), and different levels of directness of measurement of factors. 

In 2015 Prof Custovic was awarded the highly competitive European Respiratory Society Gold Medal for research in asthma. In 2013 he received the BSACI William Frankland Medal for outstanding contributions to clinical allergy, and the CIPP President’s award for the distinguished achievements in childhood asthma. He delivered numerous prestigious keynote/named lectures, including Nemacolin Asthma Conference (2014), Alain De Weck Memorial Lecture (2013), Cas Motala Memorial Lecture (South African Allergy Society, 2013), James Hutchison's Memorial Lecture (Hong Kong Paediatric Society, 2012), the RSM Priscilla Piper Lecture (2011) and Caspar Weinberg Lecture (2007).

He has served as a Secretary of the BSACI for two terms, and as President of Asthma section of the EAACI.

Renato Cutrera

Renato Cutrera, MD, PhD, graduated in Medicine at the University of Rome La Sapienza in 1981, and obtained the board in pediatrics and in respiratory diseases in 1985 and 1994, respectively.

He is, since 2000, head of the Pediatric Pulmonology Unit, Respiratory Intermediate Care Unit, Sleep and PLTVU at the Pediatric Hospital “Bambino Gesù” in Rome.  The main fields of his clinical activity concern severe asthma, acute, chronic and congenital respiratory disorders in children and adolescents, non-invasive mechanical ventilation, in particular for children with severe neuromuscular diseases, Congenital Central Hypoventilation Syndrome and other rare respiratory conditions in children.

Dr Cutrera is author of over 100 scientific articles in various fields of research on pediatric disorders

Michael Fayon

Professor Michael Fayon was trained as a Pediatrician (Intensive Care, Neonatology, Pediatric Pulmonology) in Bordeaux (FR), Montreal (CA), and Paris (FR). He holds a Master’s degree in Clinical and Epidemiological Research (University of Montreal) et a PhD in Health Biology (Bordeaux University). His special interests are preschool wheezing, asthma, cystic fibrosis, bronchoscopy and health education to patients. He is currently the lead physician of the Pediatric Pulmonology Unit in Bordeaux University Hospital and has held positions in the Executive Committee of the European Cystic Fibrosis Clinical Trials network & the Scientific Committee of the National Pediatric Allergy and Asthma Society (SP2A).

Thomas Ferkol

Thomas Ferkol, M.D. is the Alexis Hartmann Professor of Pediatrics, and Professor of Cell Biology and Physiology at Washington University School of Medicine (St. Louis, Missouri, USA).  An American Lung Association Edward Livingston Trudeau Scholar and recipient of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation LeRoy Matthew’s Physician-Scientist Award, his research has largely focused on the development of cell and animal models to study cystic fibrosis and primary ciliary dyskinesia, defining genetic and molecular factors that contribute to chronic airway infection, inflammation, and epithelial injury with over twenty-five years of funding from the National Institutes of Health. He has also received support from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, March of Dimes, and Australian National Health and Medical Research Council. Dr. Ferkol has served on numerous national and international review groups, and authored more than 170 original articles, scholarly reviews, and book chapters. Finally, he was President of the American Thoracic Society, only the second pediatrician to serve in this capacity in the 115-year history of the organization.

Monika Gappa

Monika Gappa is Professor of Paediatrics and Director of the Children’s Hospital, Evangelisches Krankenhaus Düsseldorf. Her main areas of interest are paediatric respiratory physiology, particularly  assessment of lung function, early origins of lung disease, severe asthma, and allergy. She has been Associate Editor of Paediatric Pulmonology for many years and is on the Editorial Board of a number of respiratory journals. She is active member of the ERS, has contributed to a number of Task Forces and led the paediatric HERMES program. In 2020, she received the ERS Educational Award.

Matthias Griese

Matthias Griese works as Professor of Pediatrics at the Childrens´ Hospital, Medical School of Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich. He is director of the Pediatric Pneumology and Cystic Fibrosis Department.
After Medical College (Bochum and Aachen, Germany), he received his Medical thesis at the Department of Physiology, Aachen Medical School. He was Resident in Pediatrics (Düsseldorf) and B. Braun Research fellow. Postdoctoral Fellowship in Pediatrics, Yale University, New Haven, USA. Senior Resident in Neonatolgy and Pediatrics, Childens´Hospital, University of Munich, then Chief of the Section of Pulmonology and Allergology at the Childrens´Hospital.
Matthias Griese has received several awards, including the Johannes Wenner, the Curt Dehner, the Windorfer and the ERS awards.
His major interest is Rare Respiratory Diseases. He is the founder of the kids-lung–register and the Lead of the chILD-EU project, which has established a European Management platform for rare lung diseases. His research is focused on diseases involving the pulmonary surfactant system and associated cellular models, and on studies of diagnostic and therapeutic interventions in cystic fibrosis.

R. Paul Guillerman

R. Paul Guillerman is Professor of Radiology at the Baylor College of Medicine and Chief of Academic Affairs in the Department of Pediatric Radiology at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, Texas. His clinical and research interests include imaging of pediatric diffuse lung diseases, chest CT technique optimization, risk assessment and communication. He has given over 130 invited lectures, authored or co-authored over 80 medical journal articles and textbook chapters, and co-edited the latest edition of the Springer textbook Pediatric Chest Imaging. He is co-director of the Center for Diagnostic Imaging of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CFF) Therapeutic Development Network. He has served as a member of the CFF Preschool Age Screening and Monitoring Workgroup, Children’s Interstitial Lung Disease Research Network (ChILDRN), Image Gently Steering Committee and Speakers Group, Society for Pediatric Radiology (SPR) Research & Education Board of Directors, SPR CT and Thoracic Imaging Committees, and ACR-SCBT-MR-SPR Practice Guideline for the Performance of Thoracic CT Committee.

Eitan Kerem

Prof. Eitan Kerem, MD, a world known leader in Cystic Fibrosis research, is a principal investigator of numerous national and international multicenter clinical trials. He is the author of seminal publications in the field, including phenotype-genotype relationships, disease prognostic factors, the molecular mechanisms for disease variability, and the development of novel mutation-specific pharmacological therapies to correct the basic defects in cystic fibrosis.
His many interests extend beyond cystic fibrosis, and he has been central to studies examining environmental interactions with genetic diseases and its influence on the disease severity, genetic markers of asthma and allergy in closed populations, and variability of disease in closed populations exposed to different environments. Increasingly, his efforts have turned to understanding the genetics of primary ciliary dyskinesia in Jewish and Palestinian children. In addition he published leading papers on management of community acquired pneumonia in children and was the first to characterize nectrotizing pneumonia and risk factors for complicated pneumonia in children.
The promotion of the medical, ethical and rights aspects of children with chronic diseases is at the forefront of his interest. He published many papers in this field and is known for his advocacy for children in need.
He also has a record of building bridges between Israelis and Palestinians furthering peace through medicine wherever possible.
Professor Kerem received a number of prestigious awards the last being the European CF Society Award in 2014.
He has authored over 170 papers covering all aspects of Pulmonology. 

Nural Kiper

Professor Nural Kiper
General experience:
Follow-up and management of patients with cystic fibrosis, cyst hydatid, tuberculosis, bronchiectasis, pulmonary hemosiderosis, ILD,
Fiberoptic flexible bronchoscopic procedures in infants and children,
Follow-up and management of patients in ICU with respiratory problems,PFT.
Areas of ınterest: Cystic Fibrosis & Non CF, BronchiectasisILD,Pulmonary Hemosiderosis,Childhood tuberculosis
Internatıonal project experıence:1-FP7-ChILD-EU (CHILD ILD) 305653,2- COST Action :CA 16125  European network for translational research in children and adult ILD,3-E-Rare 2001HQL child ILD
Medıcal lıcensure
2000 Professor of Pediatrics,
December 1994-June 1995: Visiting Professor, University of Michigan, Motts’Children Hospital, Pediatric Pulmonolgy Department,USA
April-July 2012: Visiting Professor, Boston Childrens Hospital, Harvard Medical School, USA
April-May 2018: Visiting Professor; UPEC, Paris, France
Admınıstratıve responsıbılıtıes
2000-2006: Executive Member of Council,Turkish Medical Association
2002-2006: Vice Dean, Hacettepe University ,Faculty of Medicine
2006-2014: Head of Pediatric Pulmonology Division, Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine

Anastassios Koumbourlis

Anastassios C. Koumbourlis, M.D., M.P.H. is Professor of Pediatrics (Pulmonology) at George Washington University, School of Medicine and Health Sciences and Chief of the Division of Pulmonary & Sleep Medicine at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington DC, USA. He received his Medical Degree from the National University of Athens, School of Medicine in his native Greece, and a Master of Public Health from the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD. He trained in Preventive Medicine at Johns Hopkins University, Pediatrics (St Agnes Hospital), and fellowships in Pediatric Pulmonology & Pediatric Critical Care at the University of Pittsburgh. He was in the faculty of the College of Physicians & Surgeons of Columbia University and of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. His research has focused on the study of lung mechanics in health and in disease. His clinical interests include flexible bronchoscopy, congenital lung & airway abnormalities, neuromuscular and skeletal disorders and sickle cell disease. He has organized postgraduate courses, and scientific symposia in many international conferences including CIPP. He has edited/co-edited/published several books in various pulmonary topics, including the award winning book on Pediatric Bronchoscopy.

Amir Kugelman

Prof. Amir Kugelman is a Clinical Professor of Pediatrics in The R&B Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion, Haifa, Israel. He specialized in Pediatric Pulmonology and Neonatology in Children's Hospital, LA, CA, and is currently the Director of the Department of Neonatology in Rambam Medical Center, Haifa, Israel and the past Chairman of the Israeli Society of Pediatric Pulmonology.
His main research is in Neonatal Pulmonology, focusing on non- invasive ventilation, non-invasive respiratory monitoring in the NICU and the Pediatric Department, and in the prevention and treatment of Chroric Lung Disease of premature infants. Other areas of interest and research: Iatrogenesis in NICUs, late preterm infants, outcome of VLBW infants, and delayed cord clamping in the delivery room.

Peter LE SOUEF

Prof Peter Le Souëf is Professor of Paediatrics, University of Western Australia. He was Head, UWA School of Paediatrics for 20 years to 2017. His research has ranged from respiratory physiology in infants and young children, aerosol delivery technologies, birth cohort studies to assess early origins of respiratory disease in children and adults, immunogenetics of asthma and respiratory infections, evolution of the human immune system, viral infections in children with acute wheezing/asthma, respiratory infections in low- and middle-income countries, and currently includes immunomodulation in young children with acute respiratory infections. He has also collaborated with researchers in South America, studying the role of parasites in respiratory diseases in children, and in Africa, studying malaria, tb and HIV. More recently, his research has also focused on the effects of the deterioration in the planet’s environment and increases in population on the health of future children. A serious decline in child health is likely due to factors including increasing ambient temperatures, declining air quality, fresh-water scarcity, and food shortages. He and his colleagues are evaluating geospatial data on environment and child health globally, with a focus on low- and middle-income countries, and modelling these factors to determine the health effects on children over this century. He has published over 301 peer-reviewed papers and given 279 invited papers at international scientific meetings, universities and institutes in 46 different countries.

Fernando D. Martinez

Dr. Fernando D. Martinez is a Regents’ Professor and Director of the Asthma & Airway Disease Research Center at the University of Arizona in Tucson.
Dr. Martinez is a world-renowned expert, and one of the most highly regarded researchers, in the field of childhood asthma.  His primary research interests are the natural history, genetics, and treatment of childhood asthma.
His groundbreaking research has had an impact on his field in numerous ways, most prominent among them the development of the concept of the early origins of asthma and COPD.  This concept is now widely accepted as the potential basis for the design of new strategies for the prevention of these devastating illnesses affecting millions of children and adults worldwide. In addition, Dr. Martinez has made important contributions to our understanding of the role of gene-environment interactions in the development of asthma and allergies. He has also been the principal investigator of one of the Clinical Centers that are part of the NHLBI Asthma Treatment Networks, which have contributed fundamental new evidence on which to base national guidelines for the treatment of the disease.
Dr. Martinez currently serves on national scientific boards including the NHLBI National Advisory Council and the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child.  He was a member of the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program that was responsible for the development of the Expert Panel Report: Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Asthma in 1997 and its first revision in 2001. He also has been a member of the FDA Pulmonary-Allergy Drugs Advisory Committee and the Board of Extramural Advisors of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI).  
Dr. Martinez’s research and vision are well detailed in more than 250 original research papers and editorials, many in collaboration with investigators from all over the world. He is frequently invited to give keynote presentations at national and international meetings.

Marielle Pijnenburg

Marielle Pijnenburg, MD, PhD. Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Department of Pediatrics, division of Respiratory Medicine and Allergology, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Marielle Pijnenburg is associate Professor in Paediatric Respiratory Medicine and head of the department of Paediatric Respiratory Medicine and Allergology in Sophia Children’s Hospital. She was trained as a paediatrician at the University Hospital Groningen and continued her career with a fellowship in Paediatric Respiratory Medicine at Erasmus MC. She obtained a permanent position in Rotterdam in 2002 and finished her PhD thesis on exhaled nitric oxide in children with asthma in 2006.
As a clinician she runs clinics for children with all paediatric respiratory diseases, but in particular for severe asthma, cystic fibrosis and bronchopulmonary dysplasia. For CF and BPD Erasmus MC is a national expertise centre.  She is a member of the management team of the Paediatric Chest Centre Sophia, a close collaboration between the departments of Paediatric Cardiology, Paediatric Surgery and ENT-Surgery.  Het research focuses on monitoring of respiratory diseases, in particular asthma and bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Personalized medicine has her special interest.
Marielle Pijnenburg is chair of the Paediatric Assembly of the European Respiratory Society. She has authored over 75 papers.

Petr Pohunek

Prof. Petr Pohunek, MD PhD FCCP. Head, Division of Pediatric Respiratory Diseases, Pediatric Department, 2nd Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and University Hospital Motol, Prague, Czech Republic.
Chairman of the Czech Society for Pediatric Pulmonology.
Chairman, Group 7.7 (Pediatric Bronchology) of the Pediatric Assembly of the European Respiratory Society.
Main research interest: Pediatric Asthma; Primary ciliary dyskinesia; Pediatric chronic respiratory diseases.

Marti Pons Odena

Dr Martí Pons is consultant paediatrician for pediatric intensive care in Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, one of the largest paediatric teaching hospitals in Spain. He is also in charge of the Home ventilation program.
Graduated from Medical School at Barcelona University in 1990,Martí did his PhD research in the same university, and defended his thesis about “non-invasive ventilation in the acute setting” cum laude. He was trained in Paediatrics and did his fellowship in Paediatric Intensive Care at Hospital Sant Joan de Deú were exerts his current position as a consultant.
Dr. Pons’s clinical interests include respiratory care in critical care. Active areas of research include mechanical ventilation, mainly focused on non invasive ventilation (NIV). Martí has contributed to more than 40 articles in peer-reviewed journals, and has edited three books on paediatric non-invasive ventilation. Recently has launched, the third edition written in collaboration with Dr Medina, Martinón-Torres, Gili and Mayordomo-Colunga.
Dr Pons is a member of the Respiratory working group of Spanish PICU society and ESPNIC (European society). Last ten years has participated in many international meetings and organised several courses promoting NIV use in acute and also chronic pediatric patient. Nowadays, leads an international educational NIV project endorsed by ESPNIC to promote the use of NIV throughout Europe, giving support to organise courses in France, Portugal, Italy, United Kingdom and The Netherlands. Recently, he has been elected Chair of the Respiratory Section of the ESPNIC.
In 2013, 2015 and 2017 hosted in his hospital a biennially international pediatric and neonatal non-invasive ventilation meeting.

Jean-Paul Praud

Prof. Jean-Paul Praud is a Pediatric Pulmonologist at the Sherbrooke University Hospital, Quebec, Canada, and Director, Center for Research into Maternal and Child Health, University of Sherbrooke. He holds the Canada Research Chair in Neonatal Respiratory Physiology since 2009.
He was co-founder of CIPP and Past-President, CIPP V. He has been President, ICPP-The Course, since 2007. He was a member of the Central Organizing Committee of all CIPP meetings and ICPP-Courses.
He is internationally renowned for his unique research contributions in the field of neonatal respiration, nasal respiratory support and sleep apneas.

Aroonwan Preutthipan

Dr. Aroonwan Preutthipan is Professor and Directors of Pediatric Pulmonary Division and also Ramathibodi Hospital Sleep Disorder Center, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.  She has been elected as the President of Sleep Society of Thailand since 2016.
For her professional training background, she earned Board of Pediatrics and Subboard in Pediatric Pulmonology in Thailand in 1992. Then she proceeded to gain more experience by working as a visiting faculty for 2 years at Divisions of Pediatric Respiratory Sciences, Pediatric Sleep and Breathing Disorders Center and Pediatric Intensive care, the John Hopkins Children’s Center, Maryland, USA.  During that time, Professor Carole Marcus was her main mentor, role model as well as best friend.
In 2003 she was given a prestigious Governors Community Service Award for the project, Home Mechanical Ventilation for Children in Thailand, from the Chest Foundation, the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP).  In addition, Sleep Society of Thailand, of which she has been the President, have won Distinguished Activity Award from the World Sleep Society 3 years in a row from 2017-2019.
She has written book chapters, research manuscripts, been a reviewer of a number of journals and given talks in international meetings. Her topics mainly focus on obstructive sleep apnea, home mechanical ventilation and respiratory care.

Giovanni Rossi

Giovanni A. Rossi is the former chief of the Pulmonary and Allergy Units and of the Cystic Fibrosis Centre at the G. Gaslini Research Institute and University Hospital in Genoa and the former adjunct Professor of Paediatric Pulmonology at the University of Genoa, Italy. He is at present Chief Emeritus at the Gaslini Research Institute and University Hospital.
He graduated from the University of Genoa, Italy and trained in Respiratory Medicine at the San Martino University Hospital, in Genoa, and then at the Pulmonary Branch of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, U.S.A., as Visiting Associate.
Dr. Rossi was Member of the Executive Committee of the Société Européenne de Physiologie Clinique Respiratoire, Chairman of the "Lung Cell Biology" Assembly of the European Respiratory Society (ERS), Member of the ERS Executive Committee, society of which he has been recently appointed “Foundation Fellow”. He also served as an Associate Editor on the Editorial Boards of several respiratory, allergy and pediatric journals. He has published >300 manuscripts in peer reviewed journals and has at present a H. index of 52.
Dr. Rossi’s major areas of basic and clinical research have been the mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of a variety of respiratory disorders, including interstitial, obstructive and infectious diseases. In this last field, his work has focused mainly on the characterization of the host-virus interaction at lower respiratory tract level, with the aim of developing novel strategies for the prevention and treatment of these high-impact respiratory disorders for which specific therapies are often not yet available.

Bruce Rubin

Prof. Bruce Rubin is the Jessie Ball duPont Distinguished Professor and Chair of Pediatrics at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia and Physician in Chief of the Children’s Hospital of Richmond. He is also Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Adjunct Professor of Physiology and Biophysics at VCU. Prof Rubin is a pediatric pulmonary physician and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Physicians of Canada (FRCPC). As a Rhodes Scholar, he trained as a post doc in Biomedical Engineering at Oxford University and in Paediatric Respirology at Sick Kids in Toronto. He holds the MD and Masters in Engineering degrees from Tulane and an MBA degree from Wake Forest University School of Business.
Dr. Rubin received the 2008 Forrest M. Bird Lifetime Scientific Achievement Award, the top research honor given by the American Association for Respiratory Care (AARC), in 2011 he presented the Phil Kittredge Memorial Keynote lecture at the AARC in 2012, he was awarded Jimmy Young Memorial medal from the AARC. He holds honorary appointments in 4 medical schools. He is on the editorial board of 12 medical journals, has published more than 300 original research papers and chapters and holds nine patents. Dr. Rubin and his research team study aerosol therapy for lung diseases, airway inflammation and excessive mucus that contributes to lung disease.He is also an accomplished magician, an elected member of the International Brotherhood of Magicians, and over the past 25 years had taught medical magic in 30 countries on 5 continents.

Sejal Saglani

Sejal Saglani is Reader in Paediatric Respiratory Medicine at the National Heart & Lung Institute, Imperial College London and Honorary Consultant in Respiratory Paediatrics, Royal Brompton Hospital, London.
The focus of her research includes: 1) mechanisms underlying the development of wheezing disorders in preschool children and factors that determine progression to childhood asthma, and management of preschool wheezing using inflammatory and infective airway phenotypes. 2) Diagnosis and management of paediatric severe therapy resistant asthma and mechanisms mediating the pathophysiology of severe disease to determine novel therapeutic targets.
She runs a translational research programme incorporating a neonatal murine model of inhaled allergen exposure and bronchoscopic airway samples from children with severe wheezing and asthma.

Manuel Soto-Martínez

Dr. Manuel E. Soto-Martínez is an Assistant Professor of Paediatrics and Paediatric Pulmonology, School of Medicine of the University of Costa Rica. Graduated in Paediatrics from the University of Costa Rica in 2007. From 2007 to 2010 he completed his fellowship in respiratory medicine at the Royal Children´s Hospital in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. In addition, he completed his Masters in Epidemiology at the National University of Costa Rica (2013-2015). He is currently a Paediatric Respiratory Physician and Sleep Physician at the Respiratory Department, Hospital Nacional de Niños, San José, Costa Rica. 
His areas of expertise/research:
- Paediatric Ashtma: severe asthma, asthma epidemiology
- Respiratory infections
- Paediatric bronchoscopy
- Cystic Fibrosis
- Non-Invasive ventilation, home oxygen
- Respiratory related Sleep Disturbances
- Respiratory Complications in Neuromuscular disease
Memberships:
- Member of the American Thoracic Society
- Member of the European Respiratory Society
- Member of Asociación Latinoamericana de Tórax (ALAT)
- Member of Asociación Costarricense de Tórax
Cojoint Responsabilities:
- Consultant in Respiratory Medicine, Hospital Nacional de Niños, San José, Costa Rica
- Coordinator Home Ventilation Program, Hospital Nacional de Niños, San José, Costa Rica. 
- A/Prof. Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Universidad de Costa Rica
- Member of the Postgraduate in Paediatrics’ Academic Committee, Universidad de Costa Rica

Renato Stein

Renato T. Stein, MD, MPH, PhD graduated in Medicine in 1979 from Pontifícia Universidade Católica, in Porto Alegre, Brazil where he completed his residency in Pediatrics in 1982. He took over as Assistant Professor at the Department of Pediatrics in 1986, and from 1987 to 1989 was a fellow in the Pediatric Pulmonary Service in Toronto, at The Hospital for Sick Children. In 1994 Dr. Stein took a position as a research fellow in Tucson, Arizona, where he worked with the Children’s Respiratory Study cohort, publishing in the field of risk factors related to asthma in children. In 2011 he did a 6 months sabaticcal in the Center for Environmental Epidemiology, in Barcelona, Spain. In Brazil Dr. Stein has been leading a large and productive group of researchers at his Institution. His main areas of interest are the relation between respiratory viruses and recurrent wheeze, asthma phenotypes, impact of the environment on respiratory health, and respiratory disease of preterm infants.

Alexander Tuazon

Alexander Ocampo Tuazon, MD, MDE. Philippine Board certified in Pediatrics and Pediatric Pulmonology, active in teaching, research and clinical practice. A holder of a Master in Distance Education. Professor in Pediatrics, past Director of the Institute of Child Health and Human Development, University of the Philippines Manila. Current Head, Section of Pediatric Pulmonology at the College of Medicine, University of the Philippines Manila, Vice President of the Philippine Pediatric Society and Member of the Philippine Subspecialty Board in Pediatric Pulmonology. Research interests include asthma, pulmonary infections and pulmonary physiology. Has published with book chapters, consensus statements on asthma, and research articles both in the Philippines and in international publications. An officer and member in a number of professional organizations involved in pediatrics, pediatric pulmonology, asthma, pharmacology, and pharmaceutical medicine. Contact Address: Section of Pulmonology, Department of Pediatrics, Philippine General Hospital, Taft Avenue, Manila, Philippines.

Stijn Verhulst

Prof. Stijn Verhulst, MD, PhD is professor in pediatrics at the University of Antwerp, Belgium and head of the pediatric pulmonoly and sleep unit at the Antwerp University Hospital. He is also director of the Antwerp Cystic Fibrosis Center and consultant at Inkendaal Hospital, Belgium. His research mainly focuses on the complications and management of sleep-disordered breathing in children. He was co-chair of a European Respiratory Society Task force on obstructive sleep apnea in children. More recently, he started several new research projects in non-invasive ventilation, BPD and cystic fibrosis. He is author or co-author of more than 90 papers and book chapters in national and international journals.

Elianne Vrijlandt

Elianne Vrijlandt is Head Patient Care of the Beatrix Children’s Hospital (BCH), University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands. After specializing in Pediatrics (2000) she did a fellowship in Pediatric Pulmonology, then a PhD. She obtained a permanent position in Groningen in 2003 and finished her PhD thesis on Respiratory Health in children born prematurely (2006). As a clinician she runs clinics for children with all pediatric respiratory diseases, but in particular for infants and children with severe asthma, congenital respiratory problems and BPD. She is a member of the BCH management team since 2013. Her research focuses on infant lung function (FOT, baby plethysmography, MBW) and on the follow up of Preterm Born Children (with or without BPD). Other areas of interest and/or research; respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), in particular follow up of infants with severe RSV-infections (after the Intensive Care period); exercise testing and late preterm infants.

Elizabeth Whittaker

Dr Elizabeth Whittaker graduated from Trinity College Dublin, Ireland and following clinical experience in Dublin and Brisbane, Australia, moved to London. Here she trained as a paediatrician and was successfully awarded an academic clinical fellowship in paediatric infectious diseases in 2006. The nine-month research period associated with this fellowship allowed her to develop her interest in paediatric infectious diseases and involved a couple of research projects on tuberculosis biomarkers and interferon gamma release assays (IGRA). She completed the Gorgas Diploma Course in clinical tropical medicine in Peru and was awarded a DTM&H in 2009. 

Dr Whittaker completed her Wellcome Trust funded PhD project ‘Immune responses to mycobacteria; the role of age and disease severity’ in 2014, based between Imperial College London and the University of Cape Town in South Africa. She completed her paediatric training in 2016, combining clinical and research experience as an NIHR-funded academic clinical lecturer. 

Dr Whittaker is the paediatric specialty co-lead for the North West London Clinical Research Network. In this role, she leads the development of local clinical research network activity in paediatrics, encouraging local clinicians to participate in NIHR clinical research network portfolio studies. She is the secretary of the British Paediatric Allergy, Infection and Immunity Group (BPAIIG) and on the steering committee of the British Association of Paediatric TB (BAPT). She is the co-lead for high consequence infectious diseases (HCID) in children at Imperial and is on the RCPCH expert advisory group for COVID 19. With the ID research team at Imperial College, she described the emerging disease PIMS-TS and works closely with national and international groups to determine a case definition and best treatment plan. 

Dr Whittaker has a strong interest in teaching and training and currently is the quality adviser to the paediatric allergy, immunology and infectious diseases CSAC committee at the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.

Gary W.K. Wong

Professor Gary Wong obtained his undergraduate medical education from the University of Alberta, Canada. He subsequently received fellowship training at University of British Columbia, and Children’s Hospital of British Columbia and visiting Fellowship at the Children’s Hospital at Munich, Germany.

 Dr Wong’s main research interests are treatment and prevention and control of asthma, and respiratory infections. He is the current President of the Asia-Pacific Association of Pediatric Allergy, Respirology and Immunology (APAPARI). He has been one of the Board of Directors of the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) and one of the GINA Assembly members since 2008. He is one of the steering committee members of the ISAAC (International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood) research group. He has published over 230 original articles, review papers, and book chapters in the field of asthma and related atopic conditions. Among other duties within several editorial boards, he is also an associate editor of New England Journal of Medicine, and one of the Section Editors of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology.

Current Post: Professor and honorary consultant, Department of Paediatrics and School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Heather Zar

Heather Zar is Professor and Chair of the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Director of the School of Child and Adolescent Health at Red Cross Childrens Hospital at the University of Cape Town (UCT), South Africa. After specialising in Paediatrics she did a fellowship in Paediatric Pulmonology, then a PhD. She is based at Red Cross Childrens Hospital, one of the largest dedicated childrens’ hospital in Africa.  She leads a large department in providing care for sick children,  training of undergraduate and post graduate students, undertaking research and advocacy to promote child health. Her work on childhood respiratory diseases, including tuberculosis, pneumonia, asthma and HIV-associated lung diseases has been internationally recognized; she has published more than 200 peer reviewed publications and has substantial international grant support. She has established a strong training program in childhood lung diseases including training several paediatricians in Africa. She currently serves as President of the Pan African Thoracic Society and President of the Forum of International Respiratory Societies. She received the World Lung Health award in 2014.