Pieter S. Hiemstra MSc, PhD

Pieter S. Hiemstra is a Professor of Respiratory Cell Biology and Immunology at the Department of Pulmonology of the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) in The Netherlands. He was trained as a medical biologist at Utrecht University and obtained his Ph.D. in Leiden in the immunology of chronic kidney inflammation. Next, he worked at the Department of Infectious Diseases at LUMC and studied phagocyte biology. This included a post-doctoral training period at UCLA in Los Angeles (USA), where he became interested in antimicrobial peptides.

He is currently Head of the Laboratory for Respiratory Cell Biology and Immunology of the Department of Pulmonology. His research is focused on basic and translational research in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, and lung cancer. He has a specific interest in the role of the epithelium of the airways and alveoli in these diseases. His other activities include teaching and curriculum development for Biomedical Sciences and Medical students.

He has organized a range of symposia and conferences and has been active in a range of national and international organizations. In 2015, he chaired the Annual Congress of the European Respiratory Society in Amsterdam, which was the biggest respiratory conference ever organized with 23.000 participants. He is currently head of Assembly 3 (Basic and translational science) of the European Respiratory Society, and Section Editor of the European Respiratory Journal.