Yahya Shehabi

Yahya Shehabi is a Professor in the Department of Surgery at Monash University, affiliated with Monash Health's Victorian Heart Institute (VHI). He holds concurrent roles as Director of Research, Intensive Care at Monash Health (since 2017) and Conjoint Professor in the Clinical School of Medicine at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) since 2013. His expertise spans critical care, sedation, delirium management, and clinical trial design. He leads the SPICE research program evaluating sedation practices in ICUs, with pivotal trials like SPICE III involving 4,000 patients across 74 ICUs. He has secured over $45M in funding, including from NHMRC, industry partners, and international grants. His work contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goals through advanced critical care practices.

Education:

• PhD in Medicine (2016), UNSW: Focused on sedation and delirium in critically ill patients
• Executive Master of Business Administration (2003), UTS Sydney

Research Interests:

Shehabi’s research emphasizes optimizing sedation protocols, reducing ICU-related mortality, and advancing antibiotic stewardship. Key projects include the BALANCE trial (optimizing antibiotic durations) and the ProGUARD trial (procalcitonin in ICU infections). His work on dexmedetomidine’s role in sedation has influenced global guidelines, such as the PADIS framework published in Crit Care Med (2018).

Grants & Projects:

• SPICE Program: $20M funding for sedation research
• BALANCE Trial: NHMRC-supported antibiotic duration study
• MEGASCORES Program (2023–2028): Sepsis management innovation

Current Projects (as Principal Investigator):

• Trimodulin Trial (2024–2029): Severe pneumonia treatment
• VentFree Muscle Stimulator Trial (2023–2028): Ventilator-weaning support

Awards & Recognition:

He has served on the NHMRC Grant Review Panel (2014–2020) and peer-reviewed top journals like NEJM and JAMA. His leadership in the ANZICS Clinical Trials Group and international delirium research networks underscores his global impact.

Labs/Teams:

Leads the SaferCare Victoria sedation initiative (Vic-PAD ICU) and collaborates with groups like the Canadian Critical Care Trials Group and the Scandinavian Society of Anesthesiology.