Helmut H. Popper gained his medical degree from the Univesity of Graz, Austria, in 1973 and subsequently undertook residency and fellowship training at the university`s Institute of Pathology. In 1985, he became an associate professor of pathology there and a year later, head of the Laboratory of Experimental Pathology. In 1993, Dr. Popper was appointed professor of pathology. Subsequent appointments in 2000 and 2008 were as head of Laboratories of Molecular Cytogenetics and Environmental and Respiratory Tract Pathology and head of the Research Unit for Molecular Lung and Pleural Pathology. He has held a number of prestitious positions during his career, including as chairman of the Pulmonary Pathology group of the European Society of Pathology and president of the Austrian Society of pathology. He is a member of the Executive Advisory Board of the Archives of Pathology and the Laboratory Medicine and a member of the editorial board of Virchows Archiv. He has received awards andmedals for continous medical education from the Swedish Medical Society, the Russian and Turkish Thoracic Societies, and the Italian Pathological Society.