Editorial introductions

Abstract

Current Opinion in Pulmonary Medicine was launched in 1995. It is one of a successful series of review journals whose unique format is designed to provide a systematic and critical assessment of the literature as presented in the many primary journals. The field of pulmonary medicine is divided into nine sections that are reviewed once a year. Each section is assigned a Section Editor, a leading authority in the area, who identifies the most important topics at that time. Here we are pleased to introduce the Journal's Section Editors for this issue. SECTION EDITORS Lee K. BrownLee K. BrownDr Lee K. Brown received his undergraduate degree in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA, and his medical degree from the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine of the City University of New York, USA. Following residency training in internal medicine at the Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City, he completed a pulmonary fellowship at Mt. Sinai Medical Center of Greater Miami, USA. After full-time faculty appointments at the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine and University of Arizona College of Medicine, USA, he moved to Albuquerque to assume the medical directorship of the New Mexico Center for Sleep Medicine, USA. Dr Brown joined the full-time faculty of the University of New Mexico School of Medicine in August of 2004 as Professor of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Executive Director of the Program in Sleep Medicine/University Hospital Sleep Disorders Center, and Associate Chief (Outpatient Services) of the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. In April of 2004 Dr Brown was promoted to Vice Chair (Clinical Program Development), in July of 2010 to Interim Vice Chair (Clinical Affairs), in January of 2011 to Vice Chair (Clinical Operations), and in August of 2013 to Senior Vice Chair (Clinical Affairs), all in the Department of Internal Medicine; as of July 1, 2006 he was granted tenure. His clinical and research interests include sleep disorders, pleural disease, and respiratory physiology. Dr Brown served as chair of the Sleep Network and formerly served on the Steering Committee of the Sleep Institute of the American College of Chest Physicians. He is a member of the editorial board of CHEST, and an Associate Editor of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine. He previously chaired the Membership Committee, the Publications Committee, and the Education Committee for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, served a 3-year term as a member of the Board of Directors, and currently serves on the In-service Examination Task Force. Dr Brown also completed 3 years of service on the Board of Directors of the American Thoracic Society (ATS), and was chair of the Council of Chapter Representatives of the ATS. He completed 3 years as chair of the ATS Health Policy Committee and previously served on the Planning Committee and Audit and Finance Committee, the Planning Committee of the ATS Assembly on Clinical Problems, and chaired that Assembly's Nominating Committee. He served as President of the Greater Albuquerque Medical Association in 2008 and remains on that organization's Board of Trustees, first as member-at-large, then as Secretary, and currently as their representative on the New Mexico Medical Society Council. He served as president of the New Mexico Thoracic Society for the 2010 to 2011 term. Dr Brown currently serves on the Polysomnography Practice Advisory Committee for the New Mexico Medical Board and the New Mexico Respiratory Care Advisory Board. In the public domain, Dr Brown served on the executive committee (as treasurer) of the Board of Directors of the American Lung Association of Arizona/New Mexico. Adrian WilliamsAdrian WilliamsProfessor Adrian Williams graduated from University College Hospital, London, UK, and after a lectureship at The Cardiothoracic Institute, Brompton Hospital in 1975, took up an appointment at Harvard, Boston, USA, where his interest in sleep began with the investigation of sudden infant death syndrome (S.I.D.S.) and publication of a definitive study implicating obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) as a cause of this syndrome. An invitation to University of California (UCLA), USA, in 1977 to take up a post as Chest Physician allowed this early interest in OSA in infants to extend into adult patients with the very first reports of OSA causing hypertension, and of oximetry as a natural diagnostic tool. In 1985 Professor Williams became tenured Professor of Medicine at UCLA and co-Director of the UCLA Sleep Laboratory. As sleep medicine gelled as a specialty, Professor Williams was one of the first to take the Board exams in 1989 to become an accredited polysomnographer and later member of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. In 1994 he returned to London where he established the Sleep Disorders Centre at Guy's and St. Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, UK, where he continues as a Consultant Physician, in addition to his role as Medical Diector of The London Sleep Centre, Harley St. He has published extensively on sleep disorders including more than 110 peer reviewed original scientific papers and more than 60 other published papers including chapters and books. His main interests now lie in the hidden consequences of OSA, the recognition and diagnosis of periodic limb movement disorder and the genetics of sleep disorders. Professor Williams is a Diplomat of the American Board of Sleep Medicine, a founding member of the Sleep Medicine Section of the Royal Society of Medicine, and the RLS.UK Group, and hold's the UK's first Chair in Sleep Medicine at Kings College, London, UK. James YankaskasJames YankaskasJames Yankaskas received a B.S. in aeronautics and astronautics from M.I.T., USA, an M.S. in operations research from New York University, USA, and worked as an Analytic Design Engineer at Sikorsky Aircraft for 5 years. He then received his M.D. from the University of Connecticut, USA, completed residency training in internal medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), USA, and fellowships in pulmonary medicine at Duke University, USA, and at UNC. He is the Michael E. Hatcher Distinguished Professor of Medicine at UNC, where he is Associate Chair of the Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Division, and Medical Director of the Medical ICU. In 1985 Dr Yankaskas developed the human airway epithelial cell cultures that preserve the ion transport properties that characterize cystic fibrosis (CF) and non-CF airways. In 1989 he developed immortalized CF and non-CF cell lines that replicate these features. He developed the UNC Cell Culture Core facility in 1984. He has published extensively on pulmonary diseases, especially cystic fibrosis in adults. He co-directs the UNC Adult Cystic Fibrosis Program and co-chaired CF Foundation consensus committees on Lung Transplant for CF and on CF Adult Care. He served on the CF Foundation Center Committee for 11 years and was the first internist to chair that accreditation body from 2005 to 2009. Dr Yankaskas has served on numerous committees of the American Thoracic Society, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and the University of North Carolina. He served on grant review committees for the CF Foundation and the N.I.H. and on the National Institutes of Health Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee (NIH RAC) from 2008 to 2012. He has reviewed manuscripts for more than 28 scientific journals and edited the book Cystic Fibrosis in Adults. His current efforts focus on integrating laboratory research with clinical problems, facilitating clinical research and drug development, and improving clinical care by developing and applying quality improvement methods. Nicholas SimmondsNicholas SimmondsDr Nicholas Simmonds graduated in medicine from the University of Nottingham, UK, in 1999 and subsequently gained a doctorate from Imperial College London, UK. He is presently a Consultant Respiratory Physician and Adult Cystic Fibrosis (CF) Specialist at the Royal Brompton Hospital, London, and holds an Honorary Senior Lecturer position with Imperial College. The Royal Brompton Hospital has one of the largest CF units in Europe and is a world renowned centre of excellence for cardiothoracic medicine and high quality research. Dr Simmonds’ research interests include CF survival variability, including CF gene/protein function, gene modifiers and environmental (non-genetic) factors. His other main specialist interest is the diagnosis of CF in equivocal or unusual cases. He has extensive experience of novel diagnostic techniques and is a member of the European Diagnostic Network Working Group and International Study Group of Ageing in CF (ISAC). He has published widely, including original research in peer review journals, review articles and book chapters.