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Preface to Series
This series of the American Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology, "Airway Epithelium. Inflammation, and Mechanisms of Disease: A Tribute to Carol B. Basbaum," is dedicated to the memory of Carol Basbaum, who passed away in April 2005 after a long and courageous battle against ovarian cancer. One might ask why the editors of the Journal decided to go forward with this unprecedented tribute. There is no question that Carol Basbaum was a brilliant scientist who had an international reputation in the area of airway biology, inflammation, and mucus. Anyone could look at her CV and see the objective evidence of this: over 100 peer-reviewed papers in the best journals, continuous ROl funding from NIH for decades, invited presentations and invitations to chair sessions and serve on organizing committees, editorships and service on editorial boards, and a long history of training and mentoring students, post-docs, and residents. She made seminal findings in airway pathobiology and was considered the preeminent scientist in the field. She was the first to describe plasticity of airway epithelial cells, the first to culture serous cells from airway submucosal glands, the first to introduce MUC2 to airway cell biology, the first to clone the MUC5AC promoter, the first to show the significance of MAPK signaling in regulation of airway mucin expression, the first to introduce ADAM/TACE and EGFR signaling, among many other contributions. She was one of the original Associate Editors for the AJRCMB and served on the Editorial Board after her 5-year term was over.
But there are many outstanding scientists in respiratory biology with similar levels of achievement. What set Carol apart was her personal, human side that pervaded all of her interactions with colleagues and friends. When I set out to create this special series for the Red Journal, I asked a number people in the field of airway epithelium and mucus if they would contribute by writing a review article. I was overwhelmed not only by the positive response from all, but even more so by the unanimous response along the lines of "Carol helped me so much in my career that I would be honored to contribute." Carol touched so many people and was such a positive force in the development...