Aims : To describe age-related impairments in lung repair and evaluate therapeutic strategies that target age-dependent dysfunction in lung disease; to describe the mechanism by which the ageing epithelium contributes to disease susceptibility; to evaluate current methods and models (in vitro and in vivo) for studying the activation of ageing pathways in acute and chronic lung diseases; to evaluate preclinical and clinical development of age-altering therapeutic strategies and scientific advances that may direct current and future therapeutic developments; and to determine the potential for developing new therapies, identifying biomarkers and differentiating among therapies designed to prevent and/or reverse ageing-associated pulmonary diseases.