The Mountain and Plains Education and Research Center’s Scholars Lecture Series is proud to introduce Dr. Paul Cullinan as the lecturer for the 1^st Annual Jim Ruttenber Occupational and Environmental Health Lecture. Dr. Paul Cullinan is currently a professor of respiratory medicine in the division of occupational and environmental medicine at the National Heart and Lung Institute in London, UK. As a clinician, he runs the busiest service in the UK for the investigation and management of occupational lung diseases. His research interests center on workplace asthma, and the exposure-response relationships between allergen, HLA, and other factors that influence occupational sensitization and disease. He has recently extended his research focus to include occupational COPD and mesothelioma. In environmental work, he has concentrated on early-life determinants of childhood asthma and the effects of traffic exposures. Dr. Cullinan’s lecture is titled “Occupational Asthma: Thinking Beyond the Immediate”.