Benjamin O’Brien

Personal History

Dr Benjamin O'Brien was born in 1973 and has Irish, German and British nationality. He is the senior physician at the Clinic for Cardiac Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine at the German Heart Center Berlin (DHZB), while also working as Charité Professor of Anaesthesiology for the Charité Clinic for Cardiac Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine.^{1, 2}

Academic History

Dr O'Brien obtained his PhD in 2001 at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA and Albert Ludwig's University of Freiburg, Germany. He became a Fellow of the Royal College of Anaesthetists in 2005 and of the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine in 2011. In 2012 he was awarded a master’s in Health Business Administration Degree by the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg. In 2013 he completed his habilitation at Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin.¹

Career Overview

Dr O'Brien was appointed Clinical Director for Anaesthesiology and Critical Care at two London hospitals - St Bartholomew's Hospital and London Chest Hospital - in 2013. In 2013 and 2014, he played a key role in the merger of the cardiac programs of these two clinics and the National Heart Hospital. 

Dr O'Brien has served as Director of the Clinic for Perioperative Medicine at St Bartholomew's Hospital since the Barts Heart Center was established in 2015 and has been Associate Director of the Barts Heart Center since 2019. Since 2018 he has been Professor of Perioperative Medicine at the William Harvey Research Institute in London.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr O'Brien played a key role as clinical director, setting up the Nightingale Hospital in London. This was an intensive care unit for patients suffering from COVID-19, established in an exhibition hall.

Since November 1, 2020, he has worked as a senior physician at the Clinic for Cardiac Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine at the German Heart Center Berlin (DHZB). At the same time, Dr O'Brien took over the W3 professorship for anesthesiology with a focus on cardiac anaesthesia at Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin. Associated with this is the management of the Clinic for Cardiac Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine of Charité, which was newly founded on January 1, 2021. ²

Career Timeline

• 1992 - 1999: Study of human medicine in Freiburg, San Francisco, Innsbruck and Berlin
• 2001: Doctorate, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Albert Ludwig's University of Freiburg, Germany
• 2005: Fellow of the Royal College of Anaesthetists
• 2011: Fellow of the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine
• 2012: Master of Health Business Administration, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
• 2013: Habilitation, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin
• 2013 - 2015 Clinical Director for Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine, St Bartholomew's Hospital and London Chest Hospital
• 2014: Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine
• 2015 - 2020: Clinical Director, Department of Perioperative Medicine, St Bartholomew's Hospital
• 2018: Professor of Perioperative Medicine, William Harvey Research Institute, QM University of London
• 2019 - 2020: Deputy Director, Barts Heart Centre
• 2020: Clinical Director, London Nightingale Hospital
• 2020 - Present: Director of the Clinics for Cardiac Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Deutsches Herzzentrum Berlin (DHZB)
• 2020 - Present: Professor of Anaesthesiology with a focus on Cardiac Anaesthesiology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin

Recognition

• 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
• Member of the National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment Panel B
• Elected UK Representative on the EACTA Representative Council
• European co-chair of SCA/EACTA (US/Europe) Clinical Practice Advisory Group on AF after Cardiac Surgery
• Member of the Outcomes Research Consortium, Cleveland Clinic

Areas of Speciality

• Arrhythmias in critical care
• Applications of fluorescence in situ hybridisation
• Multi-omic investigation of cardiac disease
• Data mining in genetics and genomics
• Operating theatre management and coordination
• Transoesophageal echocardiography (TEE)
• PACU (Post Anaesthesia Care Unit)
• Intensive care medicine
• Perioperative / peri interventional medicine

Sources

1. https://en.everybodywiki.com/Ben_O%27Brien,_Physician 
2. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_O%E2%80%99Brien 
3. https://www.hcahealthcare.co.uk/consultants/d/dr-benjamin-o-brien 
4. https://www.qmul.ac.uk/whri/people/academic-staff/items/obrienben.html