European Respiratory Monograph Surgery for Non-Neoplastic Disorders of the Chest: a Clinical Update Edited by G.M. Verleden is currently Associate Professor of Pulmonary Medicine at the Catholic University of Leuven and at the University Hospital Gasthuisberg, Leuven, Belgium. He is responsible for the care of asthmatics and is the medical director of theLeuven Lung Transplant programme. His research interests are primarily in the area of inflammation of the airways with particular interest in the role of the airway smooth muscle in asthma and chron- ic rejection after lung transplantation. The mechanisms underlying symptom perception in asthmatics are also explored in his different experimental set-ups. G.M. Verleden is a member of several international societies, ded- icated to respiratory and transplant medicine. D. Van Raemdonck is Professor of Surgery and Director of the Thoracic Surgery Research Unit in the Center for Experimental Surgery and Anaesthesiology at the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium. He is Head of Clinic and Surgical Director of the lung transplant programme at the University Hospitals Leuven, Belgium. His research group has published several experimental papers on transplantation of lungs from non-heart-beating donors and clinical papers on lung preservation and ex vivo lung reperfusion. T. Lerut is currently Professor at the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium and Chief of Thoracic Surgery since 1994. His areas of interests are oesophageal surgery, paediatric thoracic surgery and he started the pro- gramme of lung transplantation in 1991. He is member of the Royal Academy of Medicine of Belgium. He is the Chairman of the UEMS European Board of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. He is author/co-author of over 200 scientific papers in national and international journals. M. Demedts is currently Professor of Pulmonary Medicine at the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium, and Chief of Pneumology since 1990. His research interests are primarily in the area of interstitial lung diseases and of respiratory pathophysiology and lung function. He is a member of the Royal Academy of Medicine of Belgium, president of the National Certification Board of Pneumology, and was chairman of the “Colloquium and Forum Vlaamse Longartsen” from 1986–1998. M. Demedts is author/co-author of over 20 books and 400 scientific papers in national and international journals. Supported by an unrestricted educational grant from GlaxoSmithKline, Belgium. G.M. Verleden D. Van Raemdonck T. Lerut M. Demedts Mono 29 CV (title page).qxd 30/7/09 13:19 Page 1