Prof. Klaus F. Rabe: COPD as a systematic disease

Klaus F. Rabe, professor of Pulmonary Medicine at the University of Kiel and Director of the Department of Pneumology at Clinic Grosshansdorf (Figure 1). He has been active in various fields of Respiratory Medicine worldwide, predominantly asthma, COPD and lung cancer. Prof. Klaus F. Rabe has served on various editorial boards. He was the first European Associate Editor of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine and has been Chief Editor of the European Respiratory Journal until recently. His current interests are related to large clinical trials in COPD and asthma, the mechanisms of airway inflammation, and the endoscopic staging of lung cancer. Prof. Rabe has served on GINA and GOLD, and is a member of the German and Dutch Chest Societies, the British Pharmacological Society, the American Thoracic Society, and he served as President of the European Respiratory Society 2011-2012. In the 3rd international Conference on Respiratory Disease, we are honored to have an interview with Prof. Rabe (Figure 2).