Haibo Zhang, MD; PhD is Professor of Anesthesia, Medicine and Physiology at University of Toronto, and Staff Scientist in Keenan Research Centre for Biomedical Science of St. Michael's Hospital. His translational research program focuses on the mechanisms and therapy of acute lung injury, COVID-19  and sepsis. In the field of acute lung injury and ventilator-induced lung fibrosis, Dr. Zhang has been a driving force in determining the underlying cellular mechanisms and their application into clinical therapies, particularly with respect to host responses and the development of non-invasive ventilatory approaches to minimize injury in ARDS. Dr. Zhang has demonstrated key mechanistic insights of the impact of microenvironment in cell therapy during lung injury. This work has the potential to guide and transform clinical trials of human mesenchymal stromal cells for patients with lung injury. He is currently focusing on developing other approaches for lung repair and regeneration through restoring endogenous stem (progenitor) cells. Dr. Zhang has discovered that neutrophil peptides play a crucial role in the leukocyte-mediated lung injury and atherosclerosis, and has identified the peptide receptors for therapeutic targets. He has also revealed an intracellular endotoxin signaling pathway and laid the ground work to identify novel biological treatment strategies in sepsis.