This issue of Critical Care Clinics will focus on Severe Acute Respiratory DIstress Syndrome and dealing with it in the ICU. Topics will include: Challenges and Successes in ARDS Research;Mechanical ventilation with Lung Protective Strategies: What works'; Gene therapy for ALI/ARDS;High Frequency Oscillatory Ventilation in ALI/ARDS;Prone positioning therapy in ARDS;Recovery and Long-term outcome in ARDS; and Experimental models and emergeing hypotheses for ALI and ARDS