Current Opinion in Allergy and Clinical Immunology was launched in 2001. It is one of a successful series of review journals whose unique format is designed to provide a systematic and critical assessment of the literature as presented in the many primary journals. The fields of allergy and clinical immunology are divided into 14 sections that are reviewed once a year. Each section is assigned a Section Editor, a leading authority in the area, who identifies the most important topics at that time. Here we are pleased to introduce the Journal's Editors and Section Editors for this issue. EDITORS Mark BallowMark BallowDr Mark Ballow received his MD from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, USA. After a pediatric residency at Yale-New Haven Hospital, USA, he completed an immunology fellowship at the University of Minnesota Hospitals, USA. He was the Chief of Clinical and Experimental Immunology at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, USA. He was then appointed as Chief of the Division of Clinical Immunology in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Connecticut, USA from 1975 to 1988, and became Chief of the Division of Allergy/Clinical Immunology and Pediatric Rheumatology, and Program Director of the Allergy/Immunology fellowship program at The Women and Children's Hospital of Buffalo, State University of New York at Buffalo, USA from 1988 to 2012. He is presently Training Program Director of the Allergy/Immunology Fellowship program at University of South Florida, Allergy & Immunology Division at All Children's Hospital in St Petersburg, FL. Dr Ballow is certified by the American Board of Pediatrics, American Board of Allergy & Immunology (ABAI), and in Clinical Laboratory Immunology. He was on the Board of Directors of the ABAI from 1992–1998. He has served on four editorial boards including the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (1984–1989; 1995–2000), and is an Ad Hoc reviewer for a number of pediatric, allergy and immunology journals. He has recently been appointed to the editorial board of Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice. Dr Ballow has served as an ad hoc member of several NIH study sections, and was a member of the committee that published the first Allergy and Immunology Medical Knowledge Self Assessment Program (MK-SAP), and was a member of the new 3rd edition AI-MK-SAP. Dr Ballow is a Fellow of the American Academy of Asthma, Allergy and Immunology, and has served on the Board of Directors of the Academy (1996–1999), and has chaired the A/I Training Program Directors, Basic Clinical immunology Interest Section, and the Post-graduate Education Program. He was President of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology in 2010–2011. Dr Ballow is a member of the Clinical Immunology Society, the Florida Allergy Society, and the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. He also has served on the Blood Product Advisory Committee of the FDA. Dr Ballow's major clinical interests include chronic sinusitis, primary immune deficiency disorders, and the uses and mechanisms of action of Intravenous Immune Globulin (IGIV). His research interests include the immunology of the newborn infant and the immunoregulatory effects of IVIG, Vitamin A and retinoic acid. G. Walter CanonicaG. Walter CanonicaProfessor Giorgio Walter Canonica is Director of the Allergy & Respiratory Diseases Clinic, Genoa University, Italy, a GALEN Centre of Excellence. Professor Canonica first specialised in pulmonary diseases after having received his medical degree from the University of Genoa, Italy. He then specialised in Allergy and Clinical Immunology at Florence University, Italy. He subsequently conducted clinical immunology and allergology research in several European universities and institutes, in addition to two years at the Medical University of South Carolina, USA. Since returning to the University of Genoa in 1995, Professor Canonica has held a number of academic positions including Director of the Speciality School of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Director of the Specialty School of Pulmonary Diseases and Chairman of Chairman of the Dept of Medical Specialties (University Hospital S. Martino Genoa, Italy). He is Board Member of ARIA (Allergic Rhinitis and its impact Asthma) guidelines) and GALEN (Global Allergy and Asthma European Network). Professor Canonica's research interests include examination of the molecular events and interactions between immunocompetent cells, inflammatory cells and epithelial cells in allergic inflammation and airway remodelling. He is particularly involved in new strategies in the treatment of allergic disease, including biological response modifiers, such as specific immunotherapy (with a special focus on SLIT – sublingual immunotherapy - and Severe Asthma treatment with biologics). Professor Canonica has published extensively in international journals and acts as a referee of many immunology journals. In addition, Professor Canonica is a member of a number of societies, he was President of World Allergy Organization 2008/09. He is also currently President of Global Asthma Association - Interasma. He was President of SIMeR (Italian Society of Respiratory Medicine) 2000–2003 and he is Honorary President of this same Society since 2007. He is currently President of SIAAIC Italian Society of Allergy, Asthma and Clinical Immunology (2014–2017). SECTION EDITORS Ruby PawankarRuby PawankarProf. Ruby Pawankar MD, PhD, FRCP (UK), FAAAAI is currently the Immediate Past President of the World Allergy Organization (WAO) and was WAO President from January 2012 to December 2013, after serving as a member of the Board of Directors since 2001, as Treasurer 2008–2009 and as President-Elect 2010–2011. She is currently also the President of the Indian Academy of Allergy. She is Professor of Allergy in the Department of Pediatrics at Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, Japan, and Guest Professor at the Kyung Hee University School of Medicine in Seoul, Korea and the Showa University School of Medicine in Tokyo, Japan. After graduating in medicine from the Armed Forces Medical College, Pune, India, Prof. Pawankar did her residency and post-graduation from BJ Medical College, Pune, India. Thereafter, she trained in Allergy & Clinical Immunology at the Nippon Medical School and Juntendo University School of Medicine in Tokyo, Japan from where she obtained her doctorate. Prof. Pawankar serves on numerous committees and boards of many academic organizations and grant reviews, is a Member/Fellow of organizations including the Collegium International Allergolicum, the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, the American College of Allergy and Immunology, the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology and the Japanese Society of Allergology. She has delivered several orations/named lectures nationally and internationally including the SK Malik Oration and DN Shivpuri Oration. She is a recipient of many academic awards including the World Achievement Award in Allergy from Thailand; the International Distinguished Fellow Award from the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology; and especially the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award from the President of India for excellence in medicine. Prof. Pawankar's research has focused on the cellular and molecular mechanisms of allergy, immune cells like mast cells and T cells, epithelial cell-immune cell interactions, novel roles of IgE, mast cell-IgE cascade, environmental pollution, immunotherapy and novel therapies for respiratory allergies. In 1995, she was the first to report on the increased presence and role of gamma delta T cells in allergic rhinitis. In 1997, she was among the first to show that mast cells in perennial allergic rhinitis exhibit increased expression of the IgE receptor as well as being a major source of the obligatory pro- allergic Th2 cytokines interleukin IL-4, and IL-13 capable of driving local allergen-specific IgE synthesis by B lymphocytes and has formed the basis of the successful therapeutic targeting of these cytokines with biological therapeutics. Her research and educational activities have been strongly translational as it applies to clinical science. This has resulted in 411 publications including peer-reviewed original articles in: Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Journal of Clinical Investigation, Journal of Immunology, Blood, American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Allergy, Clinical & Experimental Allergy, International Archives of Allergy and Immunology, Current Opinion in Allergy and Clinical Immunology etc, and invited reviews and book chapters. She is an Editor/ Associate Editor of peer-reviewed journals such as: International Archives of Allergy, Clinical Experimental Immunology, Current Opinion in Allergy and Clinical Immunology etc., and books including the 6 volume book ‘Allergy Frontiers’, the WAO White Book on Allergy, Update on Respiratory Disorders, and is a co-author of several consensus documents. She has mentored over 30 fellows from Japan and abroad. Prof. Pawankar has chaired as President and organized several international congresses including: the 10th Trans Pacific Allergy Congress in Mumbai, India; the first and the Middle East Allergy Congress, in 2009 and 2011 respectively; the WAO International Scientific Conference (WISC) 2012, India; the World Allergy Asthma Congress 2013, Milan, Italy, as well as several educational programs and has been a visiting faculty to lecture at several institutions such as Harvard Medical School, USA; the University of Wisconsin, USA; Imperial College, London, UK; Catholic University, Argentina; the University of Sao Paolo, Brazil and Mahidol University, Thailand. At an organizational level, her vision is to create a channel of dialogue with all stakeholders to address the unmet global public health issue of asthma and allergies in the context of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) via an integrated approach that could lead to increased resources for research, improved patient care, better health care delivery, and preventative strategies. David P. SkonerDavid P. SkonerDr David P. Skoner is Director of the Division of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology in the Department of Medicine of Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. He is also Professor of Medicine at the Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA and Clinical Professor of Pediatrics, West Virginia University School of Medicine, USA. Previously, he was Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Otolaryngology at the University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine, USA and has served as the Chief of the Section of Allergy/Immunology and Director of the Allergy and Immunology Training Program at the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, USA. Dr Skoner received his BS degree from Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, USA and his MD degree from Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He served his residency in general pediatrics at Children's Hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, and he completed his fellowship in allergy/immunology at Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh. His current research interests include the relationships between respiratory viruses, asthma, immunity, and stress; the relationship between viral and allergen-induced nasal inflammation and middle ear disease; and the efficacy and safety (HPA axis function and growth in children) of inhaled and intranasal steroids. Dr Skoner has received NIH funding and written more than 100 articles and given more than 200 presentations on respiratory disease. His articles and abstracts have been published in many leading journals, including Pediatrics, Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Pediatric Research, American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, The Journal of the American Medical Association, and American Review of Respiratory Disease. Dr Skoner serves on the editorial advisory boards of the journals Current Allergy and Asthma Reports, and Current Opinion in Allergy and Clinical Immunology, and previously served on the editorial board of the American Journal of Rhinology. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics and a member of the Society of Pediatric Research, the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, the Association for Research in Otolaryngology, and the American Pediatric Society. He has been recognized as one of America's ‘Top Doctors’ (Pediatric Allergy & Immunology, Castle Connolly Medical Ltd.) from 2001 to 2014, as one of the Most Influential Doctors by USA TODAY (http://www.usatoday.com/yourlife/health/most-influential-doctors.htm), and as a U.S. News Top Doctor (www.usnews.com/top-doctors). He was invited to join the Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act (BPCA) Pediatric Asthma Therapeutics Group convened by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Dr Skoner co-founded the Nemacolin Asthma Conference (www.ahn.org/nemacolin-asthma), a continuing medical education (CME) program that attracts a national and an international audience and faculty, now in its ninth year. He also founded and is the President of ‘For Your Good Health’ (www.fygh.org), a Pennsylvania non-profit corporation that brings together asthma stakeholders in the development and implementation of state-of the-art programs to educate children with asthma and their caregivers about the disease and its management. The aim of these programs is to reduce asthma's impact on patients, caregivers, the community, and the healthcare system by helping the patients to lead near-normal lives. He also serves on the board of the non-profit Greater Pittsburgh Allergy Asthma and Immunology Society (GPAAIS), which serves to educate and inform physicians and other health care providers. Dr Skoner was selected as a finalist in the category of ‘Health Care Provider: Physician’ for the 2013 Pittsburgh Business Times Health Care Heroes Awards. J. Andrew GrantJ. Andrew GrantDr Grant is a native of Florida and received his undergraduate degree from Harvard University, USA, in biochemical sciences. After attending Duke Medical School, USA, he did a residency in internal medicine at New York Hospital – Cornell Medical Center in New York City, USA. He did a fellowship in immunology with Leroy Hood at the National Institutes of Health and an allergy-immunology clinical fellowship at Johns Hopkins University, USA, with Phillip Norman and Lawrence Lichtenstein. In 1973, he established the first basic and clinical research program in allergy in Texas at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, USA. Presently he is Clinical Professor in the Departments of Medicine and Microbiology-Immunology and training program Director in Allergy-Immunology at that institution. He has served as Division Director and Vice Chair for Research within the Department of Internal Medicine. He vacations during the summer months in Colorado and has been appointed Clinical Professor at University of Colorado Medical School, USA. Dr Grant has been an active member of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology for over four decades. His contributions to this organization include chairing the Program Directors Assembly, Mechanisms of Allergy Interest Section, Postgraduate Education Committee, Scientific Workshops and Exhibits Committee, and Immunotherapy Committee. He served on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. He founded In-training Examination for Allergy-Immunology postdoctoral fellows, the first subspecialty exam of its type. Dr Grant served as President of the Texas Allergy Asthma and Immunology Society and a Director of the American Board of Allergy and Immunology, and a member of the Residency Review Committee for Allergy and Immunology. He chaired the Pulmonary Allergy Drugs Advisory Committee of the Food and Drugs Administration and currently is a member of the Allergenic Products Advisory Committee. He was a visiting professor at the National Heart and Lung Institute with Professor Barry Kay in 1994. Dr Grant's research interests have included mechanisms of cellular activation especially the role of chemokines and novel therapies for allergic disorders. Currently he is emphasizing management of difficult patients with urticaria and angioedema. He has authored over 190 publications and chapters and 175 presentations at national and international meetings. Peter Howarth Professor Peter Howarth is Professor of Allergy and Respiratory Medicine and Honorary Consultant Physician within Medicine at the University of Southampton with a clinical and research focus on asthma, particularly severe asthma, and allergy. Professor Howarth has supervised over 20 PhD and DM students (scientists and clinicians) and his research involves Local, National and International collaboration. He has participated in EU funded collaborative programmes, such as BIOAIR and GA2LEN, focusing respectively on severe asthma and allergic diseases, and is joint work package 4 lead for UBIOPRED, the EU/EFPIA funded IMI programme on severe asthma. Professor Howarth has published over 200 peer reviewed papers and lectured extensively at National and International specialist society meetings as an invited speaker. Professor Howarth has contributed to National, European and International (World Health Organisation) guidelines on the management of rhinitis and asthma. He has been on the council of The British Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, advisor on allergy to Asthma UK and has been chairman of the board of trustees of Allergy UK. He is currently President of Allergy UK and a trustee of AAIR.
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