The Lung: Development, Aging and the Environment

The second edition of The Lung: Development, Aging and the Environment provides an understanding of the multi-faceted nature of lung development, aging, and how the environment influences these processes. As an essential resource to respiratory, pulmonary, and thoracic scientists and physicians it provides an interface between the “normal” and “disease” cluster of chapters, allowing for a natural complement to each other. The interface between different lung diseases affecting the pediatric lung also adds a useful source for comparing how different lung diseases share key pathophysiological features. This same complementarity comes across in the logical line up of chapters dealing with the “normal” pediatric lung. New research, including cell-based strategies for infant lung function, epigenetics, and prenatal alcohol exposure on lung development and function are some of the important additions to this edition of this reference work.

• Describes the normal processes of lung development, growth and aging
• Considers the effects of the environmental contaminants in the air, water, soil, and diet on lung development, growth and health
• Describes genetic factors involved in susceptibility to lung disease
• Covers respiratory health risk in children

Kent Pinkerton, MD, is professor of pediatrics, School of Medicine, and director of the Center for Health and the Environment at the University of California, Davis.

His research focuses on the health effects of inhaled environmental air pollutants to alter respiratory, cardiovascular, and neurological structure and function. Special areas of interest include the interaction of gases and airborne particles to produce cellular and structural changes within site-specific regions and cells of the respiratory tract in both acute and chronic timeframes of exposure. Recent studies have focused on environmental and biological impacts of synthesized nanomaterials as well as the effects of environmental tobacco smoke and combustion particles on lung growth and development.

He is associate director for the San Joaquin Aerosol Health Effects Research Center (SAHERC) to study airborne particles of the San Joaquin Valley. He is also the associate director for the Western Center for Agricultural Health and Safety (WCAHS) to study the health effects of airborne particles in an agricultural setting.

Richard Harding is a NHMRC Senior Principal Research Fellow and an Emeritus Professor with the Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology at Monash University, Australia. His research focuses on Respiratory Development and Programming. He is now semi-retired.