Claus F. Vogelmeier is Professor of Medicine and Head of the Dept for Pulmonary Medicine at the Philipps University of Marburg, Germany. After qualifying in medicine from the University of Munich, Claus Vogelmeier started his professional career at the hospital of the University of Munich. He is board-certified in internal medicine, pulmonary medicine, cardiology and allergology. Claus Vogelmeier spent two years as a postdoctoral fellow at the Pulmonary Branch of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, Institutes of Health, in Bethesda, MD, USA. He was nominated Professor of Medicine at the Philipps University of Marburg in 2001. Claus Vogelmeier is an active member of several respiratory societies, including the ATS and the ERS. From 2002 until 2008 he was Section Editor of the ERJ. From 2009 until 2011 he was President of the German Respiratory Society. In 2009 he also became Chairman of the German Asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Network. Since 2010, he has been a member of the Science and the Writing Committees of the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD). Claus Vogelmeier has a long-standing scientific and clinical interest in obstructive lung diseases, with topics ranging from pathogenetic aspects to novel diagnostic methods and clinical studies. Claus F. Vogelmeier viii