Guest Editors M. Ferrer M. Ferrer is currently a consultant physician at the Respiratory Intensive and Intermediate Care Unit in the Pneumology Department within the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona (Barcelona, Spain). He gained his degree in medicine from the University of Barcelona in 1985. After this, he specialised in pneumology at the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona from 1987 to 1990, and subsequently obtained a doctorate in medicine in 1993. He attained the position of staff physician within the Pneumology Department in 1992 and is also Clinic Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Barcelona. M. Ferrer is a member of the research group Applied Research in Respiratory Diseases of the Institute of Biomedical Investigations August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), as well as a member of the Network of Biomedical Research in Respiratory Diseases (CIBERES) of the ‘‘Carlos III’’ Health Institute, Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology. He currently participates in several activities related to scientific societies, including the Spanish Society of Pneumology and Thoracic Surgery (SEPAR), and was a member of the committee that developed the Spanish guidelines for Hospital-Acquired Pneumonia published in 2011. As an active European Respiratory Society (ERS) member he is part of the Noninvasive Ventilatory Support Group within the ERS Respiratory Intensive Care Assembly and is part of the long-range planning committee for this Assembly. He is also involved in the Harmonised Education in Respiratory Medicine for European Specialists (HERMES) Critical Care Project and is part of the ERS and American Thoracic Society (ATS) Task Force on the indications of use for noninvasive ventilation in acute respiratory failure. M. Ferrer’s research interests include noninvasive ventilation, weaning from invasive mechanical ventilation, severe community-acquired pneumonia and nosocomial pneumonia in the intensive care unit. He has authored or co- authored some 170 articles, including original investigations, reviews, editorials and book chapters. P. Pelosi P. Pelosi grew up in Milan (Italy) and attended the University of Milan, graduating as magna cum laude in medicine and surgery. After graduation, he completed his studies first as a specialist in anaesthesia and intensive care and then as Research Fellow at the University of Milan. He served as Associate Professor in Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine at the University of Insubria (Varese, Italy) from 1999 to 2010. He is currently Chief Professor in Anaesthesia and Intensive Care and Director of the Speciality School in Anaesthesiology at the University of Genoa (Genoa, Italy) and Head of the Intensive Care Unit at the IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliera San Martino Genoa – IST. His professional activities have always been directed both at the clinical and research fields. P. Pelosi’s main research interests are respiratory physiology during anaesthesia and respiratory failure. He has developed numerous collaborations with European and international countries for research in the field of mechanical ventilation. He is actively involved in the Fellow and Resident educational programme at the University of Genoa. He is the current Head of the Respiratory Intensive Care Assembly of the ERS. He is author or co-author of over 170 medical and scientific peer review papers, 60 book chapters, and has lectured in more than 800 national and international meetings on ventilation management during the perioperative period and on the pathophysiology and treatments of acute respiratory failure. Eur Respir Mon 2012 55: v. Printed in UK – all rights reserved Copyright ERS 2012 European Respiratory Monograph ISSN: 1025-448x DOI: 10.1183/1025448x.10000612 v