Personal Statement
Personal Statement:

I am a clinical academic in Intensive Care Medicine and Lead of a large clinical research team. My research experience ranges from in-vitro techniques to observational and interventional clinical studies. After finishing my MD thesis I performed several research projects on immune and clotting changes during sepsis and major surgery. I received my “venia legendi” in Anaesthesiology (comparable to PhD) after successful submission of my thesis on effects of analgesics on leukocyte function in 2002. In 2009 I was awarded a Personal Chair by the Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen, Germany. My research projects on acute and long-term consequences of critical illness and surgical trauma have been funded by the National Institute of Health (USA), the German Research fund (DFG), the National Institute of Health research (UK), the British Heart Foundation (UK), and the Economic and Social Research Council (UK).

My clinical career includes specialist training in Anaesthesiology at the University Hospital Giessen in Germany, followed by a Fellowship in Cardiac Anaesthesia. I trained in Critical Care Medicine in Oxford, UK, and in Giessen, Germany, where I worked as a consultant in Cardiac Anaesthesia before taking up my current position at the University of Liverpool and the Royal Liverpool University Hospital in 2005.

Cardiovascular dysfunction caused by infection, haemodynamic monitoring and echocardiography have since been my major clinical interests. My research expertise includes laboratory techniques, clinical trials, observational studies and systematic reviews.

Research Overview
I am chairing the Critical Care Research Group with members based at the University of Liverpool and at the Royal Liverpool Intensive Care Unit. This group participates and leads in a wide range of cross-specialty research activities within infection, cardiovascular dysfunction and long-term outcomes of critical illness. Our portfolio includes early and late phase clinical trials, bench-to-bedside projects, systematic reviews, observational studies and advanced data analysis.
I am a member of the Liverpool Centre for Cardiovascular Science, where I bring in my experience as intensivist and cardiac anaesthetist to study risk factors, diagnosis and management of cardiac dysfunction and, more specifically, arrhythmias in critically ill patients. Spanning the gap between clinical and experimental work, I use different approaches to define the risk profiles for arrhythmias in critically ill patients: 1. We analyse large databases to identify clinical phenotypes and risk factors for new onset arrhythmias (Collaboration with Liverpool John Moores University). 2. I am Chief Investigator for a large observational studies on perioperative cardiovascular dysfunction. 3. In collaboration with basic researchers at the University I investigate the relationship between novel and established biomarkers and occurrence of arrhythmias, coagulopathy and cardiovascular dysfunction. 4. As part of a clinical research project with commercial partners and data scientists we explore novel monitoring techniques and Machine Learning to diagnose arrhythmias as early as possible, ideally before they become clinically relevant.
I am interested in identifying the best possible therapies for arrhythmias not only in acute illness, but also during a patient's recovery period. Cardiovascular dysfunction together with muscle wasting and mental health impact on functional status and quality of life. Therefore, our group's research stream on long-term outcomes of critical illness aims to describe and prevent psychological sequelae and functional impairment after life-threatening infection.