Dr. Daniel De Luca

(France)

Daniele De Luca is a Full Professor of Pediatrics (Neonatology) and head of the Division of Pediatrics and Neonatal Critical Care at the “A. Beclere” Hospital belonging to APHP-Paris Saclay University, where he has an intense clinical and research activity. He has been the youngest Division Chief (appointed at 35 years old) and one of the youngest Professors of Pediatrics (appointed as associate and full professor at 37 and 42 years old) in Europe. His hospital is the main perinatal center in France including one of the biggest European neonatal intensive care units. For his research activity he is a member of INSERM, belonging to Physiopathology and Therapeutic Innovation Unit^[2] and has been collaborating as associate researcher with the Institut Pasteur. His research focuses on respiratory critical care from different points of view (namely surfactant catabolism, lung tissue inflammation, lung ultrasound, respiratory support techniques, and ARDS epidemiology). He was the first in clarifying the role of secretory phospholipase A2 in surfactant catabolism and the effect of therapeutic hypothermia on lung biology and function. He introduced lung ultrasound in neonatal critical care and invented the neonatal lung ultrasound score now used worldwide, as well as the ultrasound-guided surfactant administration. Regarding respiratory support he has been actively studying the refinement of non-invasive respiratory support techniques to spare invasive ventilation in preterm babies: his bench studies allowed the clinical application of nasal high frequency oscillatory ventilation, which he then tested on a large scale with a French-Chinese collaboration. Finally, he has been responsible for the movement leading to the recognition of the existence of neonatal ARDS.

He is honorary lifetime member of ESPNIC, American Pediatric Society and Spanish Neonatal Society.

He recide several awards amongst which teh most important is teh knighthood of Italian republic