Professor of Pulmonary Medicine
- Professor of Pulmonary Medicine at the University of Kiel
- Director of the Department of Pneumology at Clinic Grosshansdorf
- Served on various editorial boards, was the first European Associate Editor of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine
- Has been the Chief Editor of the European Respiratory Journal
- Current scientific interests are related to large clinical trials in COPD and asthma, the mechanisms of airway inflammation, and the endoscopic staging of lung cancer
- Served on GINA and GOLD
- Member of the German and Dutch Chest Societies, the British Pharmacological Society, The American Thoracic Society
- Immediate Past President of the European Respiratory Society