Lionel Donato graduated from the Paris XIII Faculty of Medicine in 1984, after which he went on to specialize in pediatrics at the University of Strasbourg, where he served clinical chief and where he is currently practicing. His training included pediatric and neonate critical care and pediatric surgery. His major interest, however, has always been in pediatric pulmonary diseases, a specialty in its infancy in Europe, but in which Dr. Donato has become a recognized leader, particularly in invasive pulmonary bronchoscopic procedures. Learning flexible and rigid bronchoscopic techniques from colleagues caring for adult patients, Dr. Donato quickly began performing rigid bronchoscopic procedures in children. Today, he performs more than 300 procedures yearly, many as outpatients, and is well known for performing flexible bronchoscopies in children while they sit comfortably on the laps of their parents. In fact, in only about a third of cases has he found it necessary to take a child to the operating room, using nitrous oxide for anesthesia in order to perform more lengthy procedures.

From an interventional perspective, Dr. Donato is a recognized expert in pediatric rigid and flexible bronchoscopic resections, dilations and stent insertion. He has specialized in the treatment of tracheal strictures, and is a recognized expert and teacher in difficult airway management, especially in the critical care unit and during thoracic surgery. Dr. Donato continues to be amazed at the number of pediatric pulmonologists who hesitate to perfect their skills in bronchoscopy or to undertake rigid bronchoscopic procedures. His passion is teaching, introducing new techniques and helping his students perfect their skills.

In addition to his work in Strasbourg and his frequent travels throughout Europe to teach, he also has volunteered his services for a number of years, providing Pro Bono work for the National Pediatric Hospital of Hanoi (Vietnam). This is a 580 bed children’s hospital, perhaps one of the largest children’s hospital in that part of the world. There, Dr. Donato and his colleagues have year after year taught their Vietnamese colleagues skills in bronchoscopy, as well as thoracoscopy. As he says, “during the last ten years, I do not know who has learned more, my Vietnamese colleagues perfecting their modern technical and procedural skills, or I, learning to understand and appreciate a different philosophy and way of life.”

The very first flexible bronchoscopy, performed here by Dr. L. Donato in the operating suites of the National Pediatric Hospital of Hanoi, January 2001.