Venerino Poletti is Full Professor of Respiratory Medicine at the University of Bologna and Director of the Interventional Pulmonology Unit at G.B. Morgagni Hospital in Forlì, Italy. He is internationally recognised for his expertise in interstitial lung diseases, pulmonary pathology and interventional pulmonology, particularly transbronchial lung cryobiopsy. He has contributed extensively to the development and clinical application of bronchoscopic diagnostic techniques in diffuse parenchymal lung diseases.