**About the Editors**

**Barbara Ruaro**, MD, European PhD, is a Senior Researcher at the Pulmonology Department, University Hospital of Cattinara, University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy. Barbara is a licensed Medical Doctor at the University of Turin (Italy). SShe obtained her specialization in Genoa (Italy) and after a period of fellowship in Ghent (Belgium) and in Chicago (USA) she received her European PhD. She was then a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Genoa. She was awarded an Investigator Starting Grant at the National Congress of Medicine. Barbara is a frequent speaker at national and international events. Currently, she is a professor of the Specialization Course on Respiratory Diseases at the University of Trieste. She coordinates many research projects. Barbara has authored several papers, posters, and book chapters. Her research activities have been reported in more than 80 publications (h-index 24) and she has been a speaker at more than 30 invited lectures in international and national symposia. Her areas of research interest encompass autoimmune diseases with lung involvement, telemedicine, imaging in pulmonary and rheumatic diseases, and COVID-19.

**Francesco Salton**, MD, is a physician at the Pulmonology department at the University Hospital of Trieste (Trieste, Italy) and a guest scientist at the International Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB, Trieste, Italy) since 2016. Francesco's research interests involve lung epithelial biology and regeneration with special regard to idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, which he studied in cooperation with the Temple Lung Center (Philadelphia, PA, USA). He has also designed and coordinated two international multicenter clinical trials on the use of glucocorticoids in severe COVID-19 pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). FS is the author or co-author of 34 international indexed publications. He has served as a guest editor for international scientific journals and as a speaker in several national and international conferences. FS is a member of the American Thoracic Society (ATS), European Respiratory Society (ERS), World Association for Bronchology and Interventional Pulmonology (WABIP), Associazione Italiana Pneumologi Ospedalieri (AIPO), and Societ`a Italiana di Pneumologia (SIP).

**Paola Confalonieri**, MD, is a Physician at the Pulmonology Department of the University Hospital of Trieste (Trieste, Italy). She earned her degree with honors in Medicine and Surgery at the University of Trieste in 2017. Since 2019, she has been a resident in Respiratory Medicine at the University of Trieste. She is the author and coauthor of 18 scientific articles published in international journals in the field of lung diseases. She is the coauthor of the chapter "Alveolar Epithelial Type II Cells" in the book "Encyclopedia of Respiratory Medicine, 2nd ed." She has attended national and international conferences and she has given oral presentations at national events. She is a member of the European Respiratory Society (ERS) and Associazione Italiana Pneumologi Ospedalieri (AIPO).
