Dr Jean-Jacques ROUBY, MD, PhD, is Professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Director of the Surgical Intensive Care Unit of Hopital Pitie-Salpetriere, Universite Pierre et Marie Curie (Paris VI). Currently he is the director of the Experimental Intensive Care Unit and Vice-Dean of the University School of Medecine La Pitie-Salpetriere. He has published more than 100 clinical and experimental studies focusing on 5 different topics: Mechanical Ventilation and New Technologies, Ventilator-associated pneumonia, Lung morphology in Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Inhaled Nitic Oxide and Antibiotic Neb ulization during Mechanical Ventilation. Dr Rouby belongs to the Editorial Board of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Medicine, Anesthesiology and Critical Care and reviews for other Journals such as Intensive Care Medicine, JAMA, Chest and British Journal of Anaesthesia.

Head of the Papageorgiou Hospital ICU, Thessaloniki, Greece.

Dr Matamis has a broad experience with bedside echocardiography in the ICU. He has presented his experience in several international medical meetings and he is known to be an excellent teacher and a skilled bedside clinician. His case studies are unique in demonstrating the exceptional role echocardiography can play in the ICU. Dr Matamis is actively using bedside echocardiography in his ICU and plays an active role in education and research.

Dr Jean-Louis Vincent is Professor of Intensive Care at the Free University of Brussels and is the Head of the Department of Intensive Care at Erasme University Hospital.
He has authored or co-authored more than 600 peer-reviewed publications, more than 70 books, and more than 870 chapters, letters and abstracts.
He is editor-in-chief of Critical Care, Current Opinion in Critical Care and ICU Management, and member of more than 30 editorial boards, including Critical Care Medicine (senior-editor), PLoS Medicine,  Intensive Care Medicine, Lancet Infectious Diseases, Chest, Shock, PLOS Medicine and Journal of Critical Care.
He is a Past President of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine, the European Shock Society and the International Sepsis Forum.
He has delivered hundreds of presentations nationally and internationally. Dr Vincent has received several awards (the Foundation Andre Loicq award in 1986, the Foundation De Kerckheer award in 2000, the Distinguished Investigator award of the Society of Critical Care Medicine in 2001, the College Medialist award of the American College of Chest Physicians in 2003, and he was the Recipient of the Americal College of Clinical Pharmacy "Therapeutic Frontiers Lecture" in 2007.

David Michael Linton, is a South African born and trained Anaesthesiologist and Intensivist. He was previously the Director of the Respiratory Intensive Care Unit at the Groote Schuur University Hospital in Cape Town Cape. He is currently appointed as Associate Clinical Professor at the Hadassah University Hospital in Jerusalem where he is Director of the Medical Intensive Care Unit in the Department of Medicine. His main intensive care research interests have been in the fields of neurological disease, automated closed loop mechanical ventilation, negative pressure ventilation and ventilation support in cardiac and respiratory failure. He is particularly devoted to the practice of cost-effective noninvasive intensive care and particularly the use of early noninvasive neurological, cardiac and respiratory monitoring to achieve early diagnosis and accelerate recovery. Prof Linton holds a commercial pilot license with ratings on a range of light aircraft including business jets and in his spare time loves to fly fast aircraft on life saving air ambulance missions.

Dr Apostolos Armaganidis is Associate Professor of Intensive Care in the Medical School of Athens University. He received his medical degree from Athens University Medical School, where he also completed his residency in pulmonary medicine. Since 1983, he is working as a full time intensivist, first in Cochin University Hospital in Paris (1983-1990) and then in Athens University (from 1990). In Paris he was certified in Intensive Care Medicine (CES en Reanimation, University Paris VII) and obtained a post graduate Diploma in the physiology and pathophysiology of the respiratory and circulatory systems (DIPLOME D'ETUDES APPROFONDIES or DEA, University Paris V). In October 2003, he became Director of the 2nd University Department of Intensive Care Medicine in ATTIKON University Hospital in Athens. His research interests have included respiratory insufficiency, mechanical ventilation, ARDS and VILI, as well as haemodynamics and sepsis, and his work has resulted in over 50 publications in peer-reviewed journal and more than 500 citations. Prof. Armaganidis served as a member of the Executive Committee of ESICM from 1996 - 2000 and he is actually member of the Council of ESICM and the representative of Greece in the ESICM (from 2003) and also Vice President of the Hellenic Society of Intensive Care Medicine (from 2002).

Professor of Medicine in the University of Crete and Director of Intensive Care Medicine Department in the University Hospital of Heraklion.

Dr Georgopoulos graduated from the University of Thessaloniki medical school and subsequently trained in General medicine and Pulmonology in Thessaloniki, Greece and at the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada. His research interests include ventilatory control mechanisms and the pathophysiology and management of acute respiratory failure. He has published more than 100 papers and chapters in international peer review journals and textbooks.

Dr. Jacobi is a Critical Care Pharmacist at Methodist Hospital/Clarian Health, in Indianapolis, Indiana. Dr. Jacobi is President of the Society of Critical Care Medicine and is the first pharmacist to hold that position. She was the lead author the 2002 SCCM Guidelines for Sedation and Analgesia of critically ill patients and is Chair of the Insulin Infusion in Critical Care Guidelines committee. She is a member of the Editorial Boards of Critical Care Medicine, Pharmacy Practice News and Contemporary Critical Care. She is the Program Director of an Accredited Critical Care Pharmacy Residency, and has a teaching affiliation with Purdue University and Butler University, Schools of Pharmacy.

Dr. Stark joined International SOS in 2005 and currently holds the position of Regional Medical Director with full oversight of medical staff, clinics and assistance activities throughout the Northern European and Russian platforms. He is a board certified Diplomate in Internal Medicine through the American Board of Internal Medicine and received his Medical Degree from the Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston. Dr. Stark specializes in aviation medicine, international health, travel medicine and is an expert on travel risk management and cross-border medical evacuation. Prior to joining International SOS, Dr. Stark served as the NATO Flight Surgeon and was in charge of the Aviation Medicine program at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) Healthcare Facility in Belgium. He has since practiced medicine throughout the United States, Africa, Asia and Europe.

Jacques Creteur was graduated in medicine in 1990 from the Free University of Brussels, and specialized in Internal Medicine in 1995 and in Intensive Care Medicine in 1996. He obtained his PhD title in 2001 and is currently Associate Professor in the Department of Intensive Care at the Erasme University Hospital in Brussels. His main fields of investiga¬tions and teaching are oxygen transport, microcirculation disorders in critically ill patients, pathophysiology of sepsis, oxygen carriers, tissue carbon dioxide monitoring, and regional hemodynamics. He has signed more than 50 original articles in the English language, book chapters and review articles.

Jean-Daniel Chiche is Full Professor of Critical Care Medicine (Paris Descartes University), currently working in the Medical Intensive Care Unit of Cochin University Hospital in Paris. He graduated as MD in Paris, studied in Liege for 4 years (Belgium), and obtained a PhD after a 3-year research fellowship at the Massachusetts General Hospital (Harvard Medical School) in Boston. His clinical interest lies in the field of acute respiratory failure and sepsis. He also holds an appointment as Research Director at the Cochin Institute (INSERM U567) where he develops an independent research program spanning various aspects of the biology of Toll-like receptors, innate immunity and variability of the inflammatory response. Member of several scientific international societies, Pr Chiche is an active member of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM). After 3 years as Chair of the Research Committee of the ESICM, he is the current Chair of the Division of Scientific Affairs and Congress Committee.

Dr. Maria Klimathianaki graduated from the University of Crete Medical School in 1998 and specialized in Pulmonology in 2006 and in Intensive Care Medicine in 2008. She was also trained on Pulmonary Hypertension (ERS Fellowship 2006, Pulmonary Vascular Diseases Unit, Hopital Erasme, Universite Libre de Bruxelles). Currently is an attending physician in Intensive Care Medicine Department of the Heraklion University Hospital. Her main fields of interest include mechanical ventilation and control of breathing, and pulmonary hypertension.

Eric Hodgson is an anaesthetic intensivist fron the sub-trpical city of Durban, the third largest city in the Republic of South Africa. Eric hasd major interests in Emergency and Elective Difficult Airway Management, Acute and Chronic Pain and the Ethics of End of Life Care. Eric's hobbies include supporting the rugby Teams of Durban (The Sharks) and South Africa (The Springboks) as well as sampling single malt Scotch Whisky. The internet is a major source of entertainmment and education in Eric's life and the major reason why he is addressing this meeting today.

Pierre-Francois Laterre is the director of the ICU at the UCL University in Brussels. He has an extensive experience with septic patients and has participate in many studies related to the diagnosis and treatment of sepsis.