The Section of Respiratory Medicine directed by Prof. Papi has a clinical ward of 14 beds, a thoracic endoscopic Unit, Pulmonary lung function laboratories, Day Hospital, Outpatient Clinics, and a Respiratory rehabilitation Unit. About 500 patients are admitted to the clinical ward every year, and we see about 2000 out patients/year, many of which with obstructive lung diseases. The Research Centre on inflammatory and smoking related respiratory diseases (CEMICEF) represents the research core of the Section. It is equipped for the conduction both of clinical trials and of pre-clinical (basic science) research on obstructive lung disorders.
He is Member of the Asthma Board of the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. He his member of the Editorial Board of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, the Journal of COPD and peer Reviewer of several prestigious journals.
The principal field of research is airway inflammation in asthma and COPD, its molecular mechanisms and pharmacological modulation. He studied with particular interest the role of respiratory viral infections in stable/exacerbated obstructive lung diseases, and the underlying molecular and immunological mechanisms. He coordinated several studies, particularly in asthma and COPD and he has given presentations at national and international meetings. He has published more than 200 original articles in peer reviewed journals and several publications in non-peer reviewed journals.