title: The ERS Research Agency: the beginning.
abstract: There is at the current time a significant opportunity for the ERS to leverage its experience and reputation as an international umbrella organisation to promote high-quality, multinational respiratory research with the goal of improving the health of respiratory patients. This editorial proposes a model for the role and structure of an ERS Research Agency. It is based upon research, implicit knowledge and explicit feedback from ERS members and selected external individuals and organisations.As with any new endeavour there are challenges and threats. Building a Research Agency will be a major undertaking that will require significant organisational planning, resources, effort and commitment.Organisations with multiple stakeholders tend to have a status quo inertia that has to be overcome for any significant new endeavour. The ERS Research Agency could be an investment in the future of respiratory research.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Investigación Hospital Universitario de la Princesa (IISP), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Cátedra UAM-Linde, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Joan B
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9740-2994
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Soriano
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Paton
authors.affiliation: ERS Executive Office, European Respiratory Society, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Martin Burrieza
authors.affiliation: ERS Executive Office, European Respiratory Society, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Werner
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Bill
authors.affiliation: ERS Science and Education, European Respiratory Society, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Carine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pannetier
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milan Bicocca, Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aliberti
authors.affiliation: Cell and Molecular Biology, Airways Disease Section, National Heart and Lung Institute Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Ian M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Adcock
authors.affiliation: BioSci Consulting, Maasmechelen, Belgium.
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wagers
authors.affiliation: WHO Collaborating Centre for TB and Lung Diseases, Fondazione S. Maugeri, Care and Research Institute, Tradate, Italy giovannibattista.migliori@fsm.it.
authors.forename: Giovanni Battista
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Migliori
mesh_terms: D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000379:methods; D000068456:Clinical Studies as Topic; D005060:Europe; D006801:Humans; D015272:Pulmonary Medicine / Q000193:education; D012955:Societies, Medical; D057170:Translational Research, Biomedical / Q000379:methods