Carlo Vancheri is a full Professor of Respiratory Medicine at the University of Catania, Italy. He is Director of the “Regional Centre for Rare Lung Diseases” as well as of the PhD course in “Translational Biomedicine”. He is currently director of the ward of Respiratory Diseases at the University – Hospital “Policlinico G. Rodolico – San Marco”, Catania, Italy. He is also Director of the Postgraduate School of Respiratory Medicine at the University of Catania. Professor Vancheri obtained his medical degree and postgraduate degree in Respiratory Diseases from the School of Medicine of the University of Catania, and received his PhD in Respiratory Diseases from the University of Naples. He subsequently became a Research Fellow of the Medical Research Council of Canada, at McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada. In 2013 was visiting Professor at the Diderot University in Paris, France. From 2017 to 2019 he was part of the administrative board of the University of Catania. Professor Vancheri’s clinical interest is focused on Interstitial lung Diseases and specifically on pulmonary fibrosis. He has published over 230 papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals.

Dr. Vatrella is Full Professor of Respiratory Diseases and Head of the Respiratory Disease Unit at the University of Salerno Hospital, contributing to the introduction of the new Medical School of Salerno. His work includes clinical, teaching, and research activities with clinical activity mainly focused on the treatment of patients with both common and rare pulmonary diseases. In the last few years, he coordinated the creation of specialized referral centers for the diagnosis and treatment of severe asthma, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, and other rare respiratory diseases. Research work focused particularly on the fields of obstructive lung diseases, with important contributions to the understanding and management of asthma and COPD. Dr. Vatrella’s main research topics include the role of inflammation in airway hyperresponsiveness, anti-inflammatory treatment in asthma and COPD, brand-new biological therapies in severe asthma, and the search for affordable biomarkers of disease activity and severity. Well published in peer-reviewed international medical journals, and a frequent lecturer at national and international congresses focusing on respiratory medicine, Dr. Vatrella integrates his time with teaching courses in Respiratory Disease in the degrees of Medicine and Surgery, Rehabilitation Sciences, Nursing, Imaging technics, as well as in the Postgraduate Schools of Respiratory Diseases, Internal Medicine, Cardiology, and Clinical Pharmacology. In addition, he also has an active teaching and organizational role in the PhD course of translational and clinical medicine in the same University. Research activity has been aimed to different fields of respiratory medicine and, in particular, toward the pathophysiology of disorders, such as asthma, COPD, interstitial pulmonary diseases, respiratory infections, and lung cancer.

Prof.ssa Veronesi is an Associate Professor of Thoracic Surgery at Vita-Salute San Raffaele University and Director of Robotic Thoracic Surgery Program at San Raffaele Hospital in Milan (Italy). She previously headed the Robotic Surgery Unit at the Humanitas Research Hospital in Rozzano (Mi-Italy) and screening and lung cancer prevention unit at European Institute of Oncology. Degree in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Milan (Italy) in 1994. Specialties in Thoracic Surgery in 2006 University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (Italy), Specialist in Surgery of the digestive system and surgical digestive endoscopy in 2000 University of Milan (Italy). She has led one of the largest European lung cancer screening programs (COSMOS studies) using low dose tomography and MicroRNA testing in high risk individuals and was principal investigator of several lung cancer chemo prevention trials funded by the American National Cancer Institute including the randomized study on inhaled Budesonide compared to placebo for screen detected lung nodules and the randomized study on the protective role of Aspirin in healthy subjects with subsolid lung lesions. Since 2007 she has developed a robotic surgery program for oncological chest diseases, she is tutor of robotic surgery in Italy and other European countries. She has designed and co-ordinated an international multicentre randomized trial to compare robotic and manual videotoroscopic surgery for the treatment of lung cancer and has instituted an European working group within the European Society of Thoracic Surgery (ESTS) on Robotics Surgery focused on training and education. She won a prize in 2019 of the Robert J. Ginsberg Lectureship Award for Surgery (20th WCLC – Barcellona, Spain) and in 2017 of the Women and Technology Association as a techno-visionary in medicine. Her academic contributions include more than 247 publications in peer-reviewed indexed international journals (Scopus source: H-index 42, cited 6548) and 5 book chapters. She is member of the Editorial Board of: Lung Cancer, Annals of Thoracic Surgery, Ecancermedicalscience, Frontiers in Oncology, Journal of Thoracic Disease, Journal of Visualized Surgery. She is Founding Member of Clinical Robotic Surgeon Association and Founder of the European Society of Thoracic Surgeons (ESTS) Robotic Working Group. She is PI of an International European study funded by ERANET.

I am involved as clinician and researcher in the respiratory field since 1989. I started as Intensivist located inside a rehabilitative respiratory unit dedicated to chronicity. After academic specialization in Respiratory Diseases I have structured a weaning center dedicated to chronic cardio-respiratory patients coming from ICUs. I have the focused my attention on chronicity in the field of NIV, mechanics, weaning, rehabilitation, training, long term care, neuromuscular diseases with specific interests in ALS. More recently my attention is focused on continuity of care systems as tele-monitoring, tele-rehabilitation, home care and caregivers’ attention as post COVID sequeale. Last but not least palliative care and end of life approach for non oncological diseases are two important clinical and research field of my interest. I have published more that 230 original indexed papers cited in Pubmed with an H index of 36.