Erika von Mutius Erika von Mutius is a professor of paediatric allergology and holds a degree in epidemiology from Harvard School of Public Health (Boston, MA, USA). She is head of the Asthma and Allergy Department at the Dr. von Hauner Children’s Hospital in Munich (Germany). Since 2017, she has lead the Institute for Asthma and Allergy Prevention at Helmholtz Zentrum Munich – German Research Center for Environmental Health (Neuherberg, Germany). She is also a member of the German Centre for Lung Research (DZL). Erika von Mutius is a fellow of the European Respiratory Society and was a member of the editorial board of the New England Journal of Medicine until the end of 2018. In 2010, she was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Helsinki (Helsinki, Finland) and in 2013, she received the Gottfried-Wilhelm-Leibniz Prize of the German Research Foundation, the most important research award in Germany. Erika von Mutius and her working group have been actively involved in the design, implementation and data analysis of many large Pan-European multicentre and interdisciplinary projects, addressing the potential role of genetic and environmental factors for the development of allergic diseases. The group has furthermore developed expertise and gained excellence in the conduct of studies aimed at elucidating the role of the human and environmental microbiome for the development of allergies and asthma. Erika von Mutius has published widely on different aspects of the disease and is a sought-after speaker at congresses all over the world. viii https://doi.org/10.1183/2312508X.10009619