Dr Ioanna Tsiligianni is a general practitioner serving a rural area in Crete since 2003 and an Honorary Associate Professor of the MSc in Family Medicine programme at the University of Nicosia Medical School. She is a npj Primary Care Respiratory Medicine Associate Editor and she is on the Board of directors of IPCRG. She holds a master in Public Health & Health Care Management (MPH/HCM) and two PhDs one from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Crete regarding interstitial lung diseases and one from the University of Groningen regarding health status and COPD. She collaborates as a researcher with the University Medical Centre of Groningen, The Netherlands, Department of General Practice, the Clinic of Social and Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Crete, and the Pulmonology Department in Faculty of Medicine, University of Crete. She has more than 50 publications in international pubmed journals and a significant presentation on international and national conferences. She coordinated the development of the first national guidelines for primary care on COPD and asthma. The main topic of her research is primary care respiratory medicine with a special focus on COPD and asthma. She is also interested in health outcomes assessment as well as in the use of diagnostic tools in chronic diseases. Most of her current research is mainly related to COPD, health status and lung function, primary health care, and family medicine. Through these topics she also has several educational activities in the University of Crete and in the University of Groningen.