ERS | monograph Guest Editors Charles Feldman Charles Feldman is currently the Professor of Pulmonology, Chief Physician, and Head of the Pulmonology Division at the Department of Internal Medicine, Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital and University of the Witwatersrand (Johannesburg, South Africa). He received his undergraduate degree (MB BCh) from the University of the Witwatersrand in 1975. Following his internship at Johannesburg Hospital, he specialised in internal medicine, receiving his FCP (SA) in 1981. In 1993 he was registered as a pulmonologist. He was awarded his FRCP (UK) in 1997. His additional postgraduate degrees included a PhD (1991) and a DSc (2009) from the University of the Witwatersrand, both of these on the basis of a thesis in the field of CAP. Charles Feldman has been active in both national and inter- national societies. He has been President of the South African Thoracic Society (SATS) on two previous occasions, and is currently a member of the Executive Committee of the Federation of Infectious Diseases Societies of Southern Africa (FIDSSA), a federation that represents all of the individual infectious disease societies in South Africa. He is also Editor-in-Chief of the Federation’s Journal, the Southern African Journal of Infectious Diseases. Internationally, Charles Feldman has acted as the national delegate for South Africa for the European Respiratory Society (ERS), and in 2014 he was made a Foundation Fellow of the ERS in recognition of his sustained research in the field of respiratory diseases. He is also an active member of the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) and the American Thoracic Society (ATS). Charles Feldman’s research is translational and his interest is primarily in the field of CAP, particularly pneumococcal pneumonia, especially in the setting of HIV infection. His basic research has focused on the interactions between the various factors that play a role in the pathogenesis and outcome of pneumococcal infections, namely, the microorganism and its virulence factors, the various host defence mechanisms, and the Copyright ERS 2014. Print ISBN: 978-1-84984-054-5. Online ISBN: 978-1-84984-055-2. Print ISSN: 2312-508X. Online ISSN: 2312-5098. ERS Monogr 2014 66: ix–xi. DOI: 10.1183/2312508X.10016714 ix