Thérèse Lapperre is an Associate Professor in Respiratory Medicine at the University of Antwerp (Belgium) and head of the department of Respiratory Medicine at the Antwerp University Hospital (UZA). She has an international background, being trained in the Netherlands (Leiden University) and having worked as a pulmonologist and researcher in both Singapore (Singapore General Hospital) and Denmark (Bispebjerg Hospital, Copenhagen). Her clinical expertise and research interest is in the field of obstructive lung diseases and involves the pathophysiology and management of patients with (pre-)COPD and asthma, including clinical, translational, and mechanistic studies. She is co-founder of the Lung Research Antwerp group (LEARN), and is currently the chair of the COPD working group of the Belgian Respiratory Society (BeRS), member of the board of the BeRS, as well as member of the board of the Respiratory Effectiveness Group (REG)