Kristin Mayes, MS, serves as Senior Program Administrator at the UPMC Center for High-Value Health Care, a non-profit research organization, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. She brings over a decade of experience in designing, implementing, and evaluating research initiatives that advance healthcare access, equity, and patient-centered outcomes. Kristin leads and supports comparative effectiveness trials and uses implementation science methods within complex healthcare systems, driving evidence-based strategies to improve care delivery and outcomes.

Dr. Sachin Yende is a distinguished clinician-scientist and a nationally recognized authority on the long-term outcomes of sepsis. Currently serving as Professor and formerly Vice-Chair in the Department of Critical Care Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh, Dr. Yende’s research focuses on the intersection of acute critical illness and longitudinal recovery. His work has shaped the medical community’s understanding of how sepsis affects patients well beyond their initial hospital discharge.

Dr. Yende has published over 100 peer-reviewed papers, editorials, and book chapters. His research is frequently featured in prestigious medical journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine and JAMA. His ongoing research program is supported by consistent funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI).

Beyond his academic contributions, Dr. Yende serves as the Chief Medical Officer for Integrated Veteran Care (IVC) at the Department of Veterans Affairs. In this capacity, he leads national efforts to enhance healthcare access and quality for millions of Veterans. By blending his deep expertise in clinical research with high-level operational leadership, he ensures that the latest scientific advancements are translated into improved care delivery and better outcomes for beneficiaries across the United States.

Tim Walsh is Professor of Critical Care at the University of Edinburgh and Honorary Consultant in Critical Care at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. He is Head of the Academic Dept of Anaesthesia, Critical Care, and Pain Medicine in the University of Edinburgh, and Co-director of Acute Care Edinburgh a multidisciplinary research grouping in the University of Edinburgh Usher Institute. He is also Associate Dean for Clinical Research Delivery in the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, University of Edinburgh.

Tim leads a multidisciplinary clinical research group with interests including transfusion medicine, sedation in the critically ill, recovery from critical illness and the epidemiology and prevention of ICU acquired infection. He has a particular interest in large pragmatic clinical trials, complex health intervention trials, and the evaluation of novel diagnostics and technologies in acute care. He is a past Chairman of the NIHR UK Critical Care Research Network and UK Critical Care Research Group, and Director of Research & Innovation for NHS Lothian.

Twitter:  @Ed_TimWalsh

Dr. Stoppe, a Professor of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and Würzburg University in Germany, leads several international clinical trials in the field of clinical nutrition. He has established a global clinical research group dedicated to interventional nutrition studies in collaboration with partners worldwide.

The recipient of numerous research grants—including awards from the German Research Foundation (DFG) and other third-party funders—Dr. Stoppe’s research spans nutrition studies, perioperative optimization, functional outcomes and risk assessment, guideline development, translational research, and organ protection. His work focuses particularly on cardiac surgery, severe burns, and critically ill patients.

With more than 290 publications to his name, Dr. Stoppe is a frequent speaker at international conferences. He serves as Section Chair of the Feeding, Rehabilitation, Endocrinology & Metabolism section within the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine. Additionally, he contributes to and coordinates several European, American, German, and Canadian guideline initiatives and holds a position on the executive board of the ERAS Cardiac Society.

Twitter: @CStoppe

Dr. Rochwerg is an intensivist and researcher based at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada. He leads multi-national randomized controlled trials in sepsis and acute hypoxemic respiratory failure. He is chair for the Internal Medicine Section at the Society of Critical Care Medicine and chair-elect for The Canadian Critical Care Trials Group. He is vice-chair for the international Surviving Sepsis Campaign, an Associate Editor at Critical Care Medicine and ACP Journal Club and serves on the editorial board at CHEST. In addition to this, he supports many national and international societies in developing clinical practice guidelines in the field of critical care.

Twitter: @Bram_Rochwerg

Lyvonne is a Professor of Critical Care Nursing at Edge Hill University and Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, Liverpool. She is an Associate Editor for Nursing in Critical Care and on the editorial board for Pediatric Critical Care Medicine and the Journal of Parental and Enteral Nutrition. She is an intensive care nurse with over 35 years’ experience in Australia and in the UK. She has over 170 peer reviewed publications and has held several NIHR research grants. She is currently the chief investigator for the multicentre trial of no routine gastric residual volume measurement to guide enteral feeding in critically ill children (GASTRIC-PICU). She is a member of the NIHR HTA International funding panel. Her research interests focus mainly on improving nutrition in critically ill children, particularly around enteral feeding, but she also focuses on respiratory critical care: making endotracheal suctioning safer, weaning mechanical ventilation, and preventing extubation failure. She is also committed to implementing research evidence into clinical practice. Her research takes an ‘critical care across the lifespan’ approach with work in neonatal, paediatric, and adult intensive care. She is a visiting professor for the School of Health Sciences in Geneva. She was previously the Nursing president for the European Society of Pediatric and Neonatal Intensive Care (RSPNIC) and is the elected deputy chair for the Paediatric Critical Care Society Study Group (PCCS-SG) and a member of the NIHR PCCS Research Incubator.

Twitter:  @lyvonnetume

Lars Wiuff Andersen is a clinician and professor with a focus on acute and critical care, with a primary interest in cardiac arrest. His research includes animal studies, large observational studies, and randomised clinical trials to test treatments and hopefully improve outcomes.

Twitter:  @LarsWAndersen1

Asger Granfeldt a professor specializing in intensive care, with a particular focus on cardiac arrest research. His primary interest lies in utilizing experimental animal models to enhance our understanding of cardiac arrest pathophysiology and to evaluate novel treatments before they progress to clinical trials. Additionally, he is actively participating in several clinical trials related to cardiac arrest.

Twitter: @AsgerGranfeldt

Paul Young’s primary research interest is in the design and conduct of large-scale multicentre randomised clinical trials in the field of Intensive Care Medicine. An active member of the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society Clinical Trials Group (ANZICS CTG), Paul is a leading member of the international intensive care research community.

Alongside his role at the MRINZ, Paul is the Medical Director of the Wakefield Hospital ICU and co-clinical leader of the Intensive Care Research Unit at Wellington Hospital. Paul is Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Critical Care, at the University of Melbourne, an Adjunct Professor at the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Research Centre, Monash University, and the acting co Editor-in-Chief for Critical Care and Resuscitation, the highest impact journal in the field of Intensive Care Medicine outside the US and Europe.

Involved in research collaborations with colleagues worldwide, Paul has published over 250 peer-reviewed journal articles, including numerous high impact publications in the New England Journal of Medicine, the Lancet, and the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Twitter: @DogICUma