Educational Background:
Professional Career:
Research Field
Physician Cardiothoracic Critical Care with special interest on ECMO
Pediatric Pulmonologist, PICU Consultant, Farwaniya Hospital Kuwait
Head of Anesthesia and Critical Care Department, Ibn Sina hospital
Dr. Grace van Leeuwen is Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medicine – Qatar. She has more than 15 years of experience in Pediatric Cardiac Critical Care, currently serving as a Senior Attending at Sidra Medicine's Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Unit in Qatar, where she joined in May 2019. At Sidra Medicine, she is a member of the ethics committee and responsible for the Neonatal and Pediatric ECMO transport program.
Dr. Grace van Leeuwen is a Co- Chair of the Congenital Heart Academy. She also served as Co-Chair of Marketing and Communication Committee of the 8th World Congress of Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery 2023
She is part of the editorial board of the Congenital Heart Disease Journal, and ELSO education, and was part of the ECMO working group for COVID19 at ELSO.
She has published several papers and book chapters on her field, including the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization (ELSO): 2020 Pediatric Respiratory ECMO Guideline.
Dr. van Leeuwen was previously employed at Sabará Children’s Hospital in São Paulo, Brazil, where she held multiple positions, including Head of the Heart Center. Her notable contributions to the center include leading the development of the Neonatal and Pediatrics Cardiac and ECMO programs, making it the first ECMO center in Brazil to receive the ELSO Award of Excellence. She used her experience and expertise at Sidra, helping Sidra’s ECMO program to achieve the same Award of Excellence.
She is board certified in Pediatrics, Pediatric Cardiology, Interventional Cardiology and Critical Care.
Dr. Kakar is a Staff Physician in Critical Care and Director of the ECMO Program at the Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi. Under his leadership, the Cleveland Clinic ECMO Program has developed into one of the most comprehensive services in the region, and recently received the ELSO Gold award. He is also a Professor of Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of the Case Western Reserve University, Ohio.
Dr. Kakar is formally accredited in Internal Medicine, Anesthesia, and Critical Care, and has a MA in Medical Ethics and Law from Keele University, MSc in Public Health from London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and a Global Executive MBA from Insead.
Prior to moving to the UAE in 2016, he was a Critical Care, ECMO, Anaesthesia, and Major Trauma Consultant at the King’s College Hospital, London where he helped set up a successful ECPR service.
Dr. Tarazi completed his training at The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Ohio, U.S.A. General Surgery residency (1984), Peripheral Vascular Surgery residency (1987),and Cardiothoracic Surgery residency(1987). He then moved to the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis where he completed his training in cardio-pulmonary transplantation and mechanical circulatory support(1988).In 1989 he became an Assistant Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the University of Minnesota.1989- 1999 moved to the University of California San Diego where after 10 years became a Clinical Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery. In 1999 he relocated to the State of Kuwait and from 1999-2010 took the position of Chairman of Cardiac Surgery at the Chest Diseases Hospital. From 2010-now he has been the of Chairman of Cardiac Surgery Slaman Al Dabbous Cardiac Center.
He has the American Board of General Surgery, American Board of Vascular Surgery, American Board of Cardiothoracic surgery and re-certified twice. He has the added qualifications in cardio-pulmonary transplantation. He is an Alpha Omega Alpha and recipient of many prestigious awards and was involved in many research projects.
He is an author of more than 100 publications and book chapters in peer reviewed journals and more than 200 presentations worldwide.
His areas of expertise include high risk adult cardiac surgery and advanced surgical therapies for end stage heart failure. He was the first to implant the total artificial heart in the Middle East in 2018 and has done 4 cases since then. Over the past 9 years he has performed more than 57 durable mechanical circulatory devices. In November 2019 he performed the first human heart transplantation in Kuwait and since then he has done a total of 3.
He dedicates his free time to many humanitarian missions in under developed countries where he performs cardiac surgery.
DCH - Institute of Child Health , Chennai
DNB - Kanchi Kamakoti Childs Trust Hospital, Chennai
Fellowship Pediatric Critical Care - Perth & Melbourne, Australia
Current Designation - Lead Pediatric Intensivist
Senior Consultant ( ER & PICU)
Apollo Speciality Hospital, Chennai
Program Director - First IAP Pediatric Transplant Critical Care Certificate course
Chairman - ECMO Society of India ( Pediatric wing )
Director - Apollo SHINE Foundation, a student health initiative
Senior specialist in the department of anesthesia and icu in Aljahra hospital, Kuwait Board of anesthesia (2015)
Head of department of anesthesia and ICU and director of ELSO center in Al-Jahra hospital
Consultant Pediatric Intensivest, Farwania Hospital Kuwait
Dr. Lakshmi Raman is a Professor at University of Southwestern Medical Center of Dallas and currently the Medical Director of the Pediatric and Neonatal ECLS program at Dallas Children’s Medical Center in Dallas Texas. Dr. Raman has previously chaired the guidelines committee and then the Publications committee at ELSO. Dr. Raman’s research interest is, understanding neurological injuries on ECMO and currently leading NIH funded multicenter study on neurological injuries on ECMO.
Coming Soon!!
Dr. Kazzaz received his medical degree from King Saud University in 2007, his training in pediatrics at McGill University in 2011, and his pediatric critical care fellowship at McGill University in 2013. He then completed an advanced critical care Fellowship at McGill for one year and then two years at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), including a paediatric Extracorporeal Life Support/Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation clinical fellowship. He obtained masters of public health in health systems and quality management in 2020 at King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences (KSAU-HS).
He is currently appointed as program director, pediatric intensive care/pediatric cardiac intensive care physician, and associate professor of pediatrics/Pediatric Critical Care at King Abdulaziz Medical City/King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences (KSAU-HS).
He is a member of the pediatric critical care and paediatric cardiac critical care fellowship scientific committees, Saudi Commission for Health Specialties, and a member at the Scientific Committee of the International Critical Care Conference, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for the years 2016, 2018, 2019, 2022, and 2023.
Dr. Kazzaz current research interest is focused on improving quality of care in pediatrics critical care through quality improvement projects and simulation with a specific interest in extracorporeal life support, sepsis, and organ donation.
EDUCATION
AWARDS & APPRECIATION OF INVENTION AND INNOVATION WORK
Dr. Venkat Goyal has been instrumental in the establishment of ECMO on the Indian Sub-continent. He embraced the global expansion of ELSO and was one of the major figures in both the ECMO Society of India and the South and West Asia Chapter of ELSO, SWACELSO. Without his leadership and vision ELSO would have faced significant challenges in the region. He has also been active in ECMO education co-authoring with Dr Pranay Oza the first textbook on ECMO in india, an authoritative two volume compendium. He has organized annual training courses for the last decade that have significantly added to the Indian ECMO workforce. He has written many scientific papers on both ECMO and cardiology and has lectured at numerous local and international meetings on Critical Care and ECMO.
Currently serving as a Radiology Specialist and Head of the CT Unit in the Radiology Department at Jahra Hospital in Kuwait. My educational journey began with an MBBS from Cairo University, followed by a Master’s degree in Radiology. I furthered my expertise by obtaining an M.D. and PhD in Radiology with a subspecialty in Chest Imaging from Alexandria University. My past professional background encompasses clinical experience across university and private hospitals ,as well as former lecturer at the Medical College of Taiz University. As an active member of multiple radiology societies, I have continually engaged in the broader medical community. My areas of expertise particularly include chest imaging, and I have gained substantial experience in ECMO imaging, especially working at Jahra Hospital, renowned as one of Kuwait’s premier ECMO centers.
Graduated from medical school in 2008 from the National University of Ireland, Galway. Did my internal medicine residency and Cardiology residency at the University of British Columbia, Canada 2010 t0 2016.
Did my interventional cardiology and structural heart disease fellowship at Saint’ Paul’s Hospital, Vancouver under the supervision of Dr. John Webb 2016 – 2018.
Worked as an interventional cardiologist at chest diseases hospital in Kuwait and has been the head of Cardiology department from 2018 till now. During this time made some advancement in the care provided to the care for our patients including starting a heart function clinic and shock team. Also introduced new procedures and techniques including surgical valve fracture prior to Valve-in-valve procedure, use of ultrasound for vascular access, BASILICA procedure and percutaneous paravalcular leak closure.
Dr. Hanan Al Harbi is a Board certified Anesthesiologist with over 26 years of experience in Anesthesia and Intensive care. She is a Kuwaiti national who obtained her Bachelor’s degree of Medicine (MBBCH) from Arabian Gulf University and attained her Board from Germany.
She held the position as the Head of the Department of Anesthesia and Intensive care in Ibn Sina Hospital, Kuwait, over the years 2019-2020.
Currently she is the Head of the Department of Anesthesia & Intensive Care in Al Sabah Hospital and deputy of Council of Anesthesia & Intensive care in Kuwait.
PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY:
Experienced Clinical Pharmacist in Critical Care (CC), Antimicrobial Stewardship (AMS) and geriatrics. Well-versed in collaborating with patients and healthcare team members to optimize patient care and improve patient safety. Expertise in dosages and customization of care plans. Successful at educating patients and improving physician knowledge to maximize treatment success
WORK HISTORY:
Education, Qualifications and Interest:
Dr. Al-Foudri graduated from Leeds medical School in 1998. She completed anaesthetic and intensive care training in South East Scotland School of anaethesia and Welsh School of Anaesthesia during which obtained the FCARCSI from Dublin in 2007. She also obtained CCT in anaesthesia from the RCOA/ UK in December 2011.
She has a great passion for medical education and particularly medical simulation. She established a number of training courses locally including ELSO endorsed ECMO comprehensive simulation course as well as organizing and running multiple training courses and workshops in the field of anaesthesia and critical care with particular focus on safety and quality of care.
Positions:
Dr Najat is a graduate of Kuwait university where she obtained her bachelor degree (M.B.B.CH) In 1986.
She continued her postgraduate education in Egypt where she obtained her masters from Al-Mansoura university followed by an M.D in anaesthesia and intensive care in 2002 from Seuez Canal university. She then pursued her career in anaesthesia back in Kuwait where she has over 30 Years of experience in the field. She has an interest in medical education especially educating para allied health practitioners where she’s currently actively involved in teaching students of the newly developed anaesthesia technician training program. She’s also a certified hospital surveyed since 2002 in association with the university of Oklahoma Health Centre.
She is currently the head of department of anaesthesia, critical care and pain managment in Mubarak Hospital.
Dr. Shaikha Almatouq is a highly accomplished consultant anesthesiologist with an impressive educational background. She obtained her MB, Bch, and BAO degrees from UCC Ireland and went on to complete her postgraduate studies in anesthesia from the Kuwait board. With her exceptional skills and expertise, she has been appointed as the assistant director of the Kuwait board of anesthesia and currently serves as the head of anesthesia and ICU department at Alrazi Orthopedic hospital. Prior to this, Dr. Almatouq has held prestigious positions as the head of anesthesia and ICU department at both the maternity hospital and Sabah Alhamad urology center. With her dedication and passion for her work, she has made significant contributions to the field of anesthesiology and continues to be a valuable asset in the medical community.
Interventional & structural cardiologist at MKH in Kuwait.
Dr. Esmaiel earned his medical degree at RCSI, Ireland. He subsequently completed postgraduate training in Internal medicine and cardiology at McGill University. He completed a one-year interventional cardiology clinical fellowship at the MUHC and a one-year structural fellowship with Dr. Nicolo Piazza, a world-renowned structural heart interventionalist.
He is interested in managing critically ill cardiogenic shock patients and cardiac ICU.
Dr. Beena Yousuf is a senior specialist in anesthesia, critical care, and pain management at Adan Hospital Kuwait. She is a passionate Intensivist and ECMO Physician (E. AEC certified) who is actively involved in establishing and developing the ECMO program in Kuwait.
Dr. Beena did her MBBS in 2003, followed by postgraduate training at Aga Khan University Hospital, obtained a fellowship in anesthesia, and was awarded a gold medal in 2009 from the College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan. She then came to Kuwait and pursued her career in anesthesia and intensive care in 2010.
In addition to her clinical work, she has a special interest in research and has co-authored multiple publications.
Dr. Beena is an onsite teaching faculty member for both undergraduate and postgraduate students. She is an ACLS instructor and ECLS training faculty member. Her area of interest is resuscitation and simulation medicine, and she has extensive local experience organizing training activities in Kuwait.
Professor Emeritus, Division of Acute Care Surgery at the University of Michigan Medical Center. Now a retired surgeon, who continues to be active in the lab and clinical research. Dr. Bartlett proved instrumental in the creation and advancement of ECMO treatment.
Dr Robert Bartlett developed extracorporeal life support (ECLS) from the laboratory through the first successful clinical trials to routine practice worldwide. ECLS has led to new understanding of the pathophysiology of renal, cardiac, and pulmonary failure which provides the basis for much of modern critical care. Dr. Bartlett is a founding member of the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization (ELSO).. His work has been recognized by awards from the American College of Surgeons, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Pediatric Surgery Association, Society of Critical Care Medicine and membership in the National Academy of Medicine. Dr Bartlett continues laboratory and clinical research at the University of Michigan where he is Professor of Surgery, Emeritus
Prior to becoming Professor Emeritus on July 1, 2005, Dr. Bartlett was Director of the Surgical Intensive Care Unit, Program Director of the Surgical Critical Care Fellowship and Director of the Extracorporeal Life Support Program at the University of Michigan Medical Center. He received his medical degree from the University of Michigan Medical School, cum laude in 1963. He served as an intern in Surgery at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston from 1963-1966. In 1969 he completed his general surgery residency including one year of residency in Thoracic Surgery. Dr. Bartlett was also a NIH Trainee in Academic Surgery at Harvard Medical School from 1966-1970. He was on the faculty at the University of California, Irvine, 1970-1980, and has been at the University of Michigan since 1980.
Dr. Bartlett has been the recipient of many awards and honors over the last thirty years. In 2002, he was awarded the Medallion for Scientific Achievement from the American Surgical Association. In 2003, Dr. Bartlett received the Ladd Medal of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Surgeons Jacobson Award. In addition, he was honored with two inductions: the National Institutes of Health Great Clinical Teachers Series and the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Science.
Dr. Bartlett's clinical interests include a full range of general and thoracic surgery with particular interest in acute physiology and critical care. Other areas of special expertise include inflammatory bowel disease and continent ileostomy, endocrine disease, trauma, acute respiratory and acute cardiac failure, and mechanical life support systems. Clinical and basic science research interests include cardiopulmonary pathophysiology, cardiopulmonary mechanical support systems, bioengineering applied to cardiorespiratory support systems, blood surface interaction and thrombogenesis, extracorporeal support systems applied to liver failure and cancer therapy
The first pediatric palliative care clinical dietitian in the world, Tala Jamal Naif Al-Dabbous, has achieved numerous academic degrees from prestigious universities worldwide. She obtained her Bachelor's degree in Nutrition and Biochemistry from Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, USA in 2011. Following her studies, she specialized in tube feeding for pediatric oncology patients leading her to specialize in palliative care. Afterward, she began working at Bat Abdullah Children's Hospice and the National Bank Cancer Hospital for Children in 2012. She has been the Head of the Nutrition Department in the Intensive Care Unit at Al-Adan Government Hospital since 2015 while pursuing her Master's and Ph.D. in Clinical Research for a period of five years (2014-2019) from the University of Liverpool. Tala is currently in her third year in her palliative care research program at Lancaster University linked with The International Observatory on End of Life Care. After completing this program she will be the first person in the GCC to receive a PhD in Palliative Care making it her second doctorate.
Dr. Tala has received several certificates, accolades, and training courses, including the EPEC train the trainers certification in Palliative Care from Combatore, India. She has also participated in programs and training courses at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, the Medical Center of the University of California, Los Angeles, the Cancer Center in Beverly Hills, and the Paray House School in London. She is a faculty member at Two Worlds Cancer Collaboration training doctors during their fellowship program in Clinical Dietetics in Pediatric Palliative care.
She has presented her research at numerous international conferences, including the annual conference of the Extracorporeal Life Support Organisation, in 2019 she was selected to develop the global protocol for parenteral and enteral nutrition for ICU patients. Dr. Tala has many publications in her respected field. Most recently she co-wrote the pediatric clinical dietetic guidelines with five health care professionals from around the world from different backgrounds for the extracorporeal life support organization. Dr. Tala trains Clinical Dietitian's in Kuwait as a part of the training program at the Ministry of Health of Health in Kuwait. She has cultivated a young generation of Clinical Dietitian's by expanding their knowledge and teaching them basic and advanced tube feeding (Enteral Nutrition) and IV feeding (Parenteral Nutrition).
Dr. Tala's aim is to advocate for palliative care and raise awareness for pediatric palliative care in the gulf while maintaining a clinical practice.
SLT Ali Rajab is a Speech Language Therapist specialized in the management of patients with tracheostomy, aphasia, and dysphagia. He has extensive experience in treatment and management in hyperacute and acute settings. He worked in Private Clinics on areas of Autism and Developmental Language Disorder and more recently in; Amiri ICU, Adan ICU, Amiri Neurology Department, Palliative Care Hospital and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Hospital.
During his work with the Council of Critical Care and Anaesthesia Kuwait, he organized conferences and workshops around swallowing, tracheostomy and ventilation management, Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia Prevention. He also has had prior clinical experience in the UK prior to working in Kuwait. In MoH Kuwait Hospitals Ali has authored several policies aimed at unifying dysphagia, tracheostomy, and enteral feeding services.
He obtained his foundation from the University of Reading, BSc from Manchester Metroplitan University and MSc from the University of London, City. Ali also worked as a Research Assistant and Guest Lecturer at Kuwait University.
Ali is also the chairperson of IDDSI Kuwait Regional Group (International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation Initiative) and is working actively to implement IDDSI within major Ministry of Health hospitals. Ali has authored several clinical policies.
Dr. Ibrahim Hadi had completed his undergraduate medical studies in Dublin from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons in Ireland and completed residency-training program in Anesthesia at the University of Western Ontario (UWO) in Canada. Dr. Hadi joined and completed a two year subspecialty Fellowship program in interventional chronic pain management from the UWO. He had obtained board certification from Royal College of Physician and Surgeon of Canada in 2005.
Dr. Hadi was appointed as a chairman of Anesthesia & Intensive Care Department at Al Farwaniya Hospital from 2008 – 2014. He also served as program director for the anesthesia residency training program, Kuwait Board in Anesthesia, between 2006 and 2012. Subsequently, he was appointed as Secretary General for Kuwait Institute for Medical Specialization (KIMS) in Nov. 2012 to Feb 2020. Dr. Hadi initiated medical education transformation at KIMS, leading to international institutional accreditation, Can MEDS outcome based structured training programs and qualified professional in medicine and dentistry.
Dr. Hadi had established several initiatives with universities in Canada to secure scholarship position for physician from Kuwait in Canadian based training programs.
Dr. Hadi was a member of Board of Trustee of Dasman Diabetes Institute from 2015-2020 and a member of Research Ethical Review Board at the Ministry of Health from 2014-2020.
Graeme MacLaren is Director of Cardiothoracic ICU at the National University Hospital of Singapore. He trained in both adult and paediatric intensive care medicine and has a Masters Degree in Infectious Diseases from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. His interests include ECMO and infection in critical illness. He was the inaugural Chair of ELSO’s Asia-Pacific Chapter and is the current President of ELSO
Professor of Thoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, College of Medicine, Kuwait University, Head of Thoracic Surgery Unit, Chest Diseases Hospital.
Dean Faculty of Medicine, 2011-2019, Chairman, Faculty of Surgery, Kuwait Institute for Medical Specialization, 2005-2021. President of Kuwait Chapter, American College of Surgeons.
Dr. Majdi El Husseiny is a graduate of Saint Joseph University School of Medicine, Beirut.
His residency in vascular surgery was at the French Hospital, Hotel Dieu de France
He completed his training with fellowships in Endovascular Surgery at Paris XII UPEC and Paris V Descartes universities.
Dr. El Husseiny has 18 years’ experience. Currently, he is the head of vascular unit of Al Adan Hospital (MOH - Kuwait)
In addition to his surgical practice, he is an assistant professor in the Lebanese American University, and member of the executive board of the Lebanese society for vascular surgery in Beirut.
Dr. Mohammed Shalaby, MD, Anesthesia & Critical Care Dr. Shalaby is a Consultant in Critical Care, Adult Extracorporeal Life Support Program Lead at Sheikh Khalifa Medical City Abu Dhabi. Member of Abu Dhabi ECMO taskforce, responsible for ECMO logistics and retrieval policy.
He is Assistant Professor in Anesthesia and Intensive Care, Mansoura University of Egypt, where he received his MD. He finished his training and got ECMO Diploma from La Pitie Salpetriere University Hospital, Paris- France in 2016.
He has been working in Saudi Arabia for more than 14 years as an Intensive Care Consultant and is considered one of the pioneers of Extracorporeal Life Support program there.
He has 10 years’ experience in VV and VA ECMO support for severe ARDS, catastrophic PE, Septic Shock, and E- CPR and interfacility ECMO transportation.
Dr. Elhazmi is currently a Consultant Intensivist in Ministry of Health and Saudi Ministry of Health lead of ECMO services, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. She is also, an Assistant consultant at Al-Faisal University and the Associate CEO for the Saudi Critical Care Society.
Dr. Elhazmi graduated from King Saud University College of Medicine with Honor Degree, obtained her Saudi Council for Health Specialties- accredited Saudi Board in Internal Medicine and Saudi Fellowship in Adult Critical care medicine at King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. She had pursued further subspecialty training in north America and obtained the Canadian fellowship in Adult Critical care medicine, Extracorporeal Life Support, Mechanical Cardiac Support and Transplant Critical Care from University of Toronto in Toronto, Canada.
Dr. Elhazmi has worked as an intensivist in adult critical care and cardiac intensive care departments in the King Faisal Specialist hospital and research Centre, KFSH & RC from 2016 till 2020. She also served as the Co-chair of the Hospital-wide ECMO Program in KFSH&RC, which was recognized internationally as a Center of Excellence designation at the golden level by the international Extra-Corporeal Life Support Organization, ELSO. After which she was the chair of ECMO program and ICU department in the HMG, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Dr. Elhazmi has multiple activities and contributions in numerous academic and education activities across the kingdom and in the gulf area. She contributed in multiple courses and international conferences as chair and member of scientific and organizing committees, speaker and course director in the field of ICU, ECMO and transplant. In addition, she has participated in the writing of many clinical guidelines including ELSO guidelines and ICU both nationally and internationally.
Dr. Ahmed Labib Shehatta, MBBCh (Hons), FRCA (UK), FFICM (UK), CCT (UK), EDIC, MSc (Anaesth) is a Senior Consultant in Critical Care in the Medicine Department at Hamad General Hospital, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha-Qatar. Dr. Labib is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Anesthesiology at WCM-Q.
Dr. Labib joined HMC in December 2013 and is involved in several education, research and quality initiatives. He has initiated and led Qatar National Sepsis Program and actively participated in National Patient Safety Collaborative, Best Care Always and in developing National Sepsis Guidelines. Dr. Labib organised and chaired Qatar World Sepsis Day 2014-2019. Ahmed is vice chair and clinical lead of HMC Sepsis Program 2014-2020.
Dr. Labib completed his training in anaesthesia and intensive care medicine at the Royal College of Anaesthetists and the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine UK. He has extensive clinical experience of over 25 years in Anaesthesia and Critical Care, of which 11 years have been in the National Health Service, UK. He worked as a consultant in the Department of Anaesthetics at Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust UK, which is a large healthcare facility in the North of England. Dr. Labib has many research, posters book chapters and presentations under his name. Dr. Labib’s main interests are Extracorporeal Life Support, sepsis, tracheostomy and transport medicine.
As perfusionist with Master Science in Extracorporeal Circulation Technology, 28 years working in several jobs , as Chief Nurse in ICU Open heart and Perfusionist. Director of ECMO in IRANSECT and Shahid Lavasani Hospital , Tehran with 12 years experiences in education and execution managing the conferances , congress and workshops, hands on inside country and outside for increasing the science of ECMO. A member of steering committee from IRAN since 2011 up to now in SWAAC ELSO. President of IRANSECT , Iranian Society of Extracorporeal Circulation Technology for 18 years as board director.
Director of PBM ( Patients Blood Management ) in Shahid Lavasani Hospital. All his efforts focus to save the lifes of very critical patients by mechaniacal supports in his country and in his chapter Means South West Asia and Africa. He showed how even a perfusionist could have a positive role for achievment of ECMO for save patients.
He is founder and president of Sharayan Charity Foundation which was contributor in field of pediatric cardiac surgery and the only charity in IRAN which support ECMO for pediatrics and adults.
Pediatric intensive care fellowship at hospital of sick children (SICKKIDS), Toronto, Canada. Currently working at royal hospital, national heart center as intensivist in the pediatric post cardiac surgery unit (PPCSU).
Coming Soon!!
Dr. Qasem is an anesthesiologist currently serving as the Program Director for the Anesthesia Residency Program at the Kuwait Institute for Medical Specialization. Additionally, she holds the position of the Head of the Department of Anesthesia at Maternity Hospital in Kuwait. Her postgraduate education at the Kuwait Board of Anesthesia provided her with a strong foundation in anesthesia practices. Seeking further expertise, she pursued the fellowship training in Obstetric Anesthesia and Acute Pain Management at the University of Western Ontario in Canada. Dr. Qasem's dedication to medical education led her to undertake a fellowship training program focused on simulation education and research at the University of Calgary and a Masters degree in medical education from the University of Dundee, Scotland.
Her academic achievements, with over 13 publications, coupled with her practical experience, have established her as an authoritative local figure in the field of anesthesia, particularly in the area of obstetric anesthesia.
Dr. Joseph Tonna, MD, MS, FCCM, FACEP, FAAEM, is an Associate Professor with Tenure at the University of Utah with appointments in the Divisions of Cardiothoracic Surgery and Emergency Medicine. He is the Section Head of Cardiothoracic Critical Care, Medical Director of the Cardiovascular ICU/Cardiothoracic Critical Care, and the Associate Director of Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) Services. He works as an Attending Physician in the Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Units and in the Emergency Department. He is funded by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on the topic of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) and extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ECPR). He is the Chair of the Registry Committee of the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization (ELSO).
Dr. Fajer Altammar is a Canadian trained Pediatric Intensivist and Emergentologist. She currently serves as the Head of Pediatrics in Jahra Hospital and the competence committee chair of the Pediatric Residency program in KIMS. Dr. Altammar has multiple interests including PICU liberation, clinician education, and simulation.
Dr. Mohammed Zubaid is currently Professor of Medicine at the Faculty of Medicine, Kuwait University. He heads the division of cardiology at Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital and serves as a consultant interventional cardiologist at the Chest Diseases Hospital. He is the founding and current president of Kuwait Cardiac Society. He was appointed Chair of the Faculty of Cardiology at Kuwait Institute for Medical Specialization (KIMS) in June 2014 to establish cardiology residency program in Kuwait.
Consultant Anaesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Management
Al Adan Hospital . MOH . Kuwait
DR Shamsah is a graduate of Newcastle Upon tyne medical school. He then pursued a career in Anaesthesia at Leeds NHS trust where he obtained his FFA part one. He then moved to Canada where he completed his Anaesthesia Residency training at the university of Western ontario.
2004 – 2010
Head of department of anaesthesia and ICU in Adan hospital where he was in charge of mixed heavily populated ICU as well as doing anaesthesia on a routine basis. He introduced invasive and cardiac output monitoring in the ICU with focus on the routine utilization of TEE in monitoring and diagnosis. He also established the first advanced pain clinic in the country with a variety of interventional procedures starting with radiofrequency moving to advanced neuromodulation and intrathecal devices. He is currently running one of the largest implantation program of spinal cord and peripheral neuromodulation
2006 - 2010
Secretary General of kuwait medical association
2007 – 2011
President of Kuwait Anaesthesia, Critical Care and Pain society
2010 – 2012
Chairman of Anaesthesia, Critical care n and pain management council. The state of kuwait
2002 – Now
Running and conducting workshops and international conferences in Anaesthesia, Critical Care Medicine, Echocardiography, ECMO, and stats and research
2008 - Now
Established the Cardiac Anaesthesia and Critical Care Program at Al Dabous Centre in Al Adan hospital with the introduction of cardiac support program in 2014 including left ventricular assist device, VA ECMO, IABP, and Empella.
2010 – Now
Establishment of Point of Care ULtrasound and Echocardiography practice in Anaesthesia and Critical Care practice at Al Adan hospital
2012 – Now
Establishment of local (city wide) ECMO program with subsequent establishment of a number of ECMO centres in Kuwait MOH hospitals including Adan, Jahra and Farwaniyah. He’s also the past Director of the Adan ECMO centre which achieved the ELSO Gold Centre of Excellence award in 2017.
2018 – Now
Introduced mandatory POCECHO and US with high standards and goals training staff on POCUS and Echocardiography by running daily point of care sonographic rounds concentrating on dynamics of organs and circulatory interactions emphasising on applied physiology
2020 – Now
Established closed ICUs system in Farwaniyah and Jahra hospitals during the COVID pandemic. Each hospital had between 40 to 60 ICU beds. This resulted better survivals and less morbidity
I’m an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Critical Care Medicine at Emory University/Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta in the southeastern portion of the United States. My overarching research focus is improving outcomes in advanced technology including ECMO. More specifically my interests include the relationship between non-biologic materials and the interplay with immune response, hemostatic and clotting abnormalities, and effects of interventions to combat these abnormalities on ECMO.
Dr. Nicholas Barrett is a consultant in critical care medicine at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust who trained in both anaesthesia and intensive care medicine at Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney Australia. He is Clinical Director for Respiratory and Critical Care at Guy’s and St Thomas' and has particular interests in severe cardio-respiratory failure, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) and extracorporeal CO2 removal (ECCO2R), including its provision in pregnancy. He is a specialist advisor to NICE and the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch. He is chair of EuroELSO, the organisation supporting the development of ECMO in Europe and provides advice to ECMO programmes around the world.
Associate Professor Ramanathan is an Adult Cardiac Intensivist at the Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit (CTICU) at the National University Heart Centre, Singapore (NUHCS). He had his speciality training in Cardiac Anaesthesiology from India and is trained in Intensive Care Medicine from Brisbane, Australia. He is trained in the management of critically ill cardiac patients and has expertise in the management of patients with mechanical cardiac support in ICU. He completed his Diploma in Echocardiography [Dip Echo] and Masters in Clinical Ultrasound from the University of Melbourne and was awarded the honorary fellowship (FCCP) by the American College of Chest Physicians for his contributions to critical care.
Master in Public Health (MPH), Population Planning and International Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, May 1993.
B.S., Computer and Communication Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, December 1982.
Executive Director, Extracorporeal Life Support Organization (ELSO), Ann Arbor, Michigan. Responsible for the operations of the organization. Duties included finance, update and maintenance of the international registry of ECLS patients, designing new survey instruments, publishing reports, data analysis, website updates, annual meeting, guidelines development as well as other routine activities of the organization. Coordinate various activities for the committees of the organization.
Christine has spent her career in roles that improve the lives of others: healthcare, education, and in community roles. Christine strives to create opportunity, inspire change, and support the teams and people around her so that more is possible. She is committed to being a global steward for access to care for the sickest patients, working with health systems, regulatory agencies, and others. Christine is a strong advocate for diversity to engender shared experiences, trust, and the tactics to move the bar.
Dr. Brodie is a Professor of Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He is the Vice President & Chief Medical Officer for Critical Care for the Johns Hopkins Health System. He is also the Chair of the Executive Committee of the International ECMO Network (ECMONet) research collaborative, and a member of the Board of Directors and the President-elect of the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization (ELSO).
Professor John F Fraser MB ChB PhD FRCP(Glas) FFARCSI FCICM FELSO is Founder and Director of the Critical Care Research Group at The Prince Charles Hospital and The University of Queensland, Director of the Intensive Care Unit at St Andrew’s War Memorial Hospital, and President of the Asia Pacific Extracorporeal Life Support Organisation.
Established in 2004, the Critical Care Research Group (CCRG) is Australia’s largest multi-disciplinary critical care research facility. CCRG consists of more than eighty leading clinicians, engineers, scientists, statisticians, and support staff connected to all major international cardiothoracic hospitals. CCRG has seven purpose-built biology, engineering, and bio-fabrication laboratories, as well as the largest preclinical ICU in the southern hemisphere.
He has a strong successful record in founding translational research from inhalable epinephrine pens for anaphylaxis (https://demotucordis.co/) and co-founding with Dr. Daniel Timms ( the inventor) Bionic Hearts (https://bivacor.com/) . His group recently completed a 5 year body of work demonstrating new devices that could keep donor hearts alive form more than 10 hours, and this study subsequently led to human study with a 100% survival with hearts transplanted off a rig.
In January 2020, Fraser founded the COVID-19 Critical Care Consortium with colleagues A/Prof Gianluigi LiBassi and Dr Jacky Suen. The Consortium facilitates the systematic collection of aggregate data from COVID-19 ICU patients to assist ICU clinicians in deciding treatment pathways for their patients. The Consortium has collected more than 55 million datapoints from 470 hospitals in 67 countries creating the world’s most in-depth database of COVID-19 critically ill patients. The Journal of the American Medical Association has acknowledged the ‘quantum change’ the Consortium has made to data collection.
John has five professorships across major Australian universities, has published over 550 peer-reviewed publications; received more than AUD 80 million in competitive grants; been invited to deliver over 200 national and international lectures and co-wrote and edited the most comprehensive textbook on Mechanical Circulatory Support. In 2018, John was awarded the Australian Society of Medical Research Clinical Research Award.
Guillaume Alinier, PhD, has an academic career spanning over nearly 25 years, with a keen interest and broad experience in clinical simulation-based education for which he received a UK national teaching fellowship award in 2006. He was part of the team that helped establish the various components of the ECMO training programme in Qatar and led the development of innovative ECMO simulation education technology. He is Director of Research at Hamad Medical Corporation Ambulance Service, Doha, Qatar but also holds visiting professorships in the UK with the University of Hertfordshire and Northumbria University, as well as being Adjunct Professor of Education in Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar. He has contributed to several key publications and initiatives led by key healthcare simulation societies such as the Society for Simulation in Healthcare, the Society for Simulation Applied to Medicine, the Association for Simulated Practice in Healthcare, and the International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation and Learning, and has also published two books on debriefing (https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=9SMHCwEAAAAJ).
He is currently working as Gastprofessor at the University of Göttingen (Germany) and Director of the experimental research laboratory of acute respiratory failure.
He invented the “Extracorporeal CO 2 Removal” and promoted the "baby lung" (1980's) and mechanical power concepts (2016).
He has previously served as President for the Italian National Society of Anesthesia, and Intensive Care, the European Society of Intensive Care, and the World Federation of Societies of Intensive and Critical Care Medicine.
His research focuses on the pathophysiology and treatment of acute respiratory failure, sepsis and acid base disorders.
He has published more than 600 research articles in peer reviewed journals.
He is Honorary Member of the German Society of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and was awarded with the Life Time Achievement Award by the American Society of Anesthesiology.
Elizabeth Moore is the Associate Director of Clinical Operations at the University of Iowa Heart and Vascular Center in Iowa City, Iowa. She began caring for pediatric ECMO patients in 2002 and was part of the team when the University of Iowa expanded their program to include the adult population in 2006. Elizabeth has served in various leadership roles in the ECMO program from 2008-present; including ECMO Program Director.
In May of 2020, Elizabeth accepted the position of Global Education Director for the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization (ELSO). She currently serves as a member of the ELSO Education Committee for North America as well as a member of the ELSOed Taskforce, focusing on standardizing ECMO education internationally. Her work within the ELSO has spanned over a decade with a focused mission to advance ECMO education globally.
Dr. Suneel Pooboni, Professor of Pediatrics, is currently the Chief of Pediatric Critical Care unit at Mediclinic City Hospital, Dubai, UAE. Prof. Pooboni was the founder chairman for SWAAC ELSO from 2014-2017. He was also president of ECMO society of India. He had experience of ECMO for couple of decades in UK, Canada and India. He is fellow of Royal college of Pediatrics and Child health,UK, Fellow of college of Chest Medicine and Fellow of Critical Care Medicine, USA. His interest is to bring innovations in to practice of ECMO and improve the accessibility to the practice of ECMO in resource limited countries. He authored 38 peer-reviewed publications in various international journals and five chapters in text books. He also contributed to two chapters in the 5th edition of ELSO Redbook.
Mark Ogino joined Nemours in October 2012 to lead the new Nemours Neonatology Division and to build an ECMO program for the NICU and PICU. He serves as the Chief Partnership Officer and Neonatology Chief for Nemours Delaware Valley. His academic appointment as a Clinical Professor of Pediatrics is with the Sydney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University.
Mark attended the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine. His Pediatric training was at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). He returned to UCSD, where he completed his fellowship in Neonatology and research fellowship in Pediatric Infectious Diseases. He has held positions at San Diego Rady Children’s Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, Kaiser Permanente Hawaii, Hanuola ECMO Program of Hawaii, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and CHOP at Chester County Hospital.
Dr. Ogino served as the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization (ELSO) President from 2018 to 2020 and Chair of Logistics and Education from 2009 to 2015. His academic passion is helping clinical teams learn to deliver safe and quality ECLS care at the bedside through innovative educational methods.
Dr. Jana Assy is a Pediatric Cardiac Intensivist currently working at the University Hospital of Liege in Belgium. She is the founder and former director of the adult and pediatric ECMO program at the American University of Beirut. She is a member of the SWAAC ELSO and Euro ELSO steering committees.
Dr Ibrahim Fawzy graduated from National Medical University with honours. He completed his Residency and Fellowship at New York-Presbyterian Hospital of Weill Cornell Medical College in New York. Named the Chief Resident at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and was also selected as the recipient of the Distinguish Alpha Omega Alpha Award at NYPH-WCMC in 2007.
On completion of his training, Ibrahim joined the critical care team at Hamad General Hospital and WCMC-Q, where he became the Director for medical critical care division. Furthermore, Ibrahim was elected to be the Corporate Director for Critical Care, currently Dr. Fawzy currently is the Medical Director of Aisha Bint Hamad Al Attyiah Hospital.
Ibrahim’s area of expertise is severe respiratory failure, ECMO and critical care transport, he is an Associate Professor in Clinical Medicine and Genetics Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York.
Currently practising as a Specialist Anaesthetist and Intensivist, Dr van Dyk’s interests lie in Critical Care. This passion and determination in her field have culminated in Dr van Dyk spearheading the establishment of the ELSO accredited ECMO Centre at Netcare Unitas Hospital. As the director of the ECMO Centre, Dr van Dyk runs numerous training sessions and continues to strive for excellence in this field.
Dr Matteo Di Nardo was born in Marino (Rome) Italy on 26th November 1977
He graduated in General Medicine and Surgery in 2001 and finished the specialty in Anesthesiology and Intensive Care in 2006 at the Catholic University of Sacred Heart. He worked for one year in the service of Adult Cardiac Anesthesia and Intensive Care of the European Hospital of Rome. After this experience, he started working in the pediatric intensive care unit of the Children’s Hospital Bambino Gesù of Rome. From 2013, he is responsible of the Respiratory ECMO program in Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital. He is also the coordinator of the neonatal and Pediatric ECMO transport for the Center and South of Italy in the “Rete Respira ECMO Project” of the Italian Ministry of Health. From 2014, he is an active member of the EuroELSO Steering Committee. From 2022, he is member of the Executive Committee of the European Society of Pediatric and Neonatal Intensive Care (ESPNIC). His scientific activities and interests are related to the use of extracorporeal life support in children and the critical care pediatric oncology.
Paediatric Cardiac Critical Care
ECMO Program Director
Inselspital, University Hospital for Children
Bern, Switzerland
Dr Malaika Mendonca graduated from the Essen Medical School University (Germany) in 1996. Her involvement in Extracorporeal Life Support (ECLS) started during her residency training for anaesthesia and critical care in Essen. She further acquired international experience through electives and observerships in the Sick Kids Hospital, Toronto, Canada, and the Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard University, Boston, USA.
After completing her Board Certification (Facharzt) in 2001, she joined the Ludwig Maximilian University Hospital in Munich to lead the Cardiac Paediatric Critical Care Unit, with major exposure to ECMO, ventricular assist devices and heart transplants.
Always interested in new perspectives and challenges, she moved in 2004 to the United Arab Emirates to support the creation of the Paediatric Critical Care Unit in Sheikh Khalifa Medical City (SKMC) in Abu Dhabi, bringing it up to 27 beds. She led the Cardiac PICU from 2010 as Division Chief, and, as ECMO Program Director, established and developed the SKMC Program until it became the reference centre in the UAE and a leading centre in the Gulf region.
Her dedication to education, teaching and knowledge exchange has made her a frequently invited speaker in local and international conferences, She served as Chairman of the South and West Asia Chapter of ELSO (SWAC ELSO) from 2016 to 2018. She was also a member of the ELSO Executive Committee in 2017.
Upon completion of her Chairmanship term in 2018, she returned to Europe and joined the PICU of the Inselspital University Hospital in Bern, Switzerland, where she directs the Paediatric ECMO Program in addition to her clinical duties. She is actively involved in Euro ELSO as a steering committee member and through teaching, simulations and presentations, and also leads local training and education. She keeps publishing on ECMO topics and participated in chapters writing for books.
Professor Alain Combes, MD, PhD is Professor of Intensive Care Medicine at Sorbonne Université, Paris, and head of the ICU department at La Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, Assistance Publique Hopitaux de Paris, France.
Associate Professor
Pediatric Cardiac Surgery.
Al Jalila Children’s - Dubai - UAE
Dr. El Rassi earns worldwide recognition as one of the leading Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgeons in the middle-East and the Gulf area. He has major contributions to the specialty and related research in this part of the world, especially in Complex Surgery, Neonatal/Pediatric ECMO, and Pediatric Heart Transplantation. Team achievements include the establishment of the 1st ECMO Program and Transplant Program in Lebanon, at the American University in Beirut in 2015.
As a critical care consultant and the program director of ECMO at King Saud Medical City (KSMC) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, he is passionate and fully dedicated to his full-time ECLS/ECMO job. Dr. Rabiy has many publications in the field of ECMO; his main interests are ECMO transportation, Research, and Education.
MD, MHI, SLP, CIP, FRCSC
Dr. Mufti graduated from King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. He went to Canada in 2009 to pursue cardiac surgery training, completed his adult cardiac Surgery residency at Dalhousie University, Canada, and became a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Canada in 2016. During his residency, he obtained a master’s in health informatics focusing on Machine learning and Artificial Intelligence. He is also a registered Clinician Scientist at Canada's Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons.
After finishing his training in Canada, he traveled to Australia for an 18-month clinical fellowship in congenital cardiac surgery, mechanical circulatory support, and heart transplant at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne.
After finishing his training in 2018, Dr. Mufti joined King Faisal Cardiac Center (KFCC) in Jeddah as a full-time consultant Adult and Congenital Cardiac Surgeon. He is also an Assistant Professor of Cardiac Surgery in the College of Medicine at King Saudi bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences in Jeddah. He is the chairman of the Extracorporeal Life Support (ECLS) committee at King Abdulaziz Medical City, MNGHA-WR. In 2022, he completed the Surgical Leadership Program and obtained certification from Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, USA. Dr. Mufti has been the section head of Cardiac Surgery at KFCC since early 2022. Dr. Mufti is a Saudi MOH ECMO national program member and a MOH ECMO National Program Director advisor.
Dr. Mufti's clinical interests are complex congenital cardiac repairs and mechanical circulatory support for the failing heart. With more than 40 publications and international presentations, his research interests are mainly in big data and applying machine learning predictive models on medical data to optimize patient outcomes.
