Ben O'Brien

Professor Ben O'Brien is a Professor of Perioperative Medicine at Queen Mary University of London's William Harvey Research Institute, affiliated with Barts Health NHS Trust. He serves as a Clinically Active Consultant in Intensive Care Medicine and Cardiac Anaesthesia, and has held leadership roles including Clinical Director for Perioperative Medicine since 2013. His clinical practice is based at St Bartholomew’s Hospital and Barts Heart Centre.

Education:

• M.D. from Lawrence Berkeley National Labs, Berkeley, CA, USA
• Habilitation at Charité University Berlin
• Master of Health Business Administration, School of Health Economics, Nürnberg University, Germany

Research Interests: Focus on perioperative medicine, arrhythmia prevention in cardiac surgery, omics investigations, and clinical trials. His work integrates translational research with clinical practice, particularly in potassium management, ECMO in cardiac arrest, and transfusion strategies in cardiac surgery.

Funding and Grants: Total extramural funding exceeds £12.8M, including roles as Co-Principal Investigator for HeartOME (omics studies) and Principal Investigator for the Tight K RCT on potassium's role in arrhythmia prevention.

Awards and Memberships:

• Fellow of the Royal College of Anaesthetists
• Fellow of the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine
• Senior Fellow of the Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management
• Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine
• Elected UK Representative on EACTA Representative Council

Collaborations: Works with global institutions including Harvard Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Cleveland Clinic Outcomes Research Consortium, and the Weier Group at Lawrence Berkeley National Labs. His team includes Professors Hugh Montgomery and Julie Sanders at Queen Mary.