Paolo Spagnolo is a Full Professor of Respiratory Medicine at the University of Padua and Head of the Respiratory Unit at the University Hospital of Padova, (Italy). He received his undergraduate training and his MD and completed his residency in Respiratory Medicine at the University Hospital of Bari (Italy). In 2002, Dr Spagnolo joined the Interstitial Lung Disease Unit (ILDU) of the Royal Brompton Hospital (London), initially as clinical research fellow and subsequently as Honorary Consultant. In 2008, he completed his PhD at the Imperial College of London with a thesis on “Genetic predisposition to clinical phenotypes of sarcoidosis”. Between 2008 and 2013, he was a research fellow and subsequently Assistant Professor in Respiratory Medicine at the University Hospital of Modena. Since 2015, Dr Spagnolo is a Professor of Respiratory Medicine at the Department of Cardiac, Thoracic, Vascular Sciences and Public Health of the University Hospital of Padua (Italy). His main research interests include ILD, mainly sarcoidosis and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis with emphasis on genetic predisposition, prediction of disease behaviour and clinical trials of novel therapies. Dr Spagnolo is the author or co-author of over 200 journal articles, review articles and editorials. He is the Editor in chief of Sarcoidosis Vasculitis and Diffuse Lung Diseases (SVDLD) and the Treasurer of the WASOG (World Association of Sarcoidosis and Other Granulomatous diseases).