In memoriam Romain Pauwels

Romain Pauwels passed away peacefully on January 3, 2005, at his home in Sint-Denijs-Westrem (Ghent, Belgium), after a long fight against his own disease and after having devoted his entire life to fighting the diseases of others. In particular, we would like to remember his efforts in the fight against asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In addition to performing pivotal basic and clinical research in the fields of asthma and COPD, Professor Pauwels played a fundamental role as Chairman of both the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) and the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Diseases (GOLD). These international initiatives were sponsored by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute US and the World Health Organization, both of which have had an important impact in attracting attention to these two devastating diseases around the world. Born on June 13, 1943, Professor Pauwels obtained …