The Guest Editor Nikos Siafakas is Professor of Pneumonology at the Dept of Thoracic Medicine of the University Hospital of Heraklion, Crete, Greece. He is the author of more than 150 scientific papers and has also edited two books. In 1980, Dr Siafakas received his PhD degree on “Aspects of pulmonary mechanics in health and disease” from the University of London, London, UK. He is a member of numerous scientific organisa- tions and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, London. Dr Siafakas has served vari- ous posts within the European Respiratory Society (ERS), including the Executive Committee and the ERS School. N.M. Siafakas Mono 38 CV.qxd 06/12/2006 12:13 Page 1