Аннотация:The paper generalizes the 15 years’ experience of the V. A. Negovsky Research Institute of General Reanimatology, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, in conducting fundamental studies of the morphological, functional, and clinical patterns of the development of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), by using up-to-date medical technologies. The developed and clinically introduced new scientifically grounded methods for the prevention, diagnosis, and combination, differentiated treatment of ARDS could reduce the number of complications, the duration of mechanical ventilation, the length of stay in the intensive care unit, and mortality rates. Key words: acute respiratory distress syndrome, V. A. Negovsky Research Institute of General Reanimatology, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences.