A/Prof Nai An Lai – Director, Strategic Planning and Governance Lead
Dr Lai is the Director of Intensive Care Services at Mater Health. He is also the Director of Clinical Stream Governance for Surgical, Neurosurgery, Acute Care and Cancer Services at the Mater. His other commitments include working with the Therapeutics Goods Administration (TGA) to establish standards for critical care mechanical ventilators and being an active committee member of the Queensland Statewide Intensive Care Clinical Network (SICCN).
A graduate of Monash University Medical School, Dr Lai holds the Membership of the Royal College of Physicians of United Kingdom and the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, the College of Intensive Care Medicine of Australia and New Zealand and the Royal Society of Medicine. He is a holder of the European Diploma in Intensive Care Medicine and has a Postgraduate Diploma in Echocardiography and Clinical Ultrasound from the University of Melbourne.
Dr Lai is an Associate Professor at Griffith University and has been the founder, convenor and faculty member of a number of courses including the Basic Intensive Care Medicine (BICMed) course, A-B-C critical skills for ICU, the Australian Short Course in Intensive Care, Basic Assessment and Support in Intensive Care (BASIC), Antimicrobial Masterclass for Acute Care Practitioners, Short Course in Critical Infections and the Advanced Diagnostic and Physiological Monitoring in Critical Care (ADP-MoCC) Symposium.
Dr Lai has authored and co-authored a number of publications in the fields of critical care medicine, central venous catheter related blood stream infections, systemic inflammatory response syndrome and sepsis. His work contributed to research on sepsis and evolution of sepsis definition. He is passionate about perioperative critical care, advanced diagnostic modalities in medicine, innovative physiological monitoring in enhancing safety and quality in healthcare and detection as well as prevention of acute deterioration in hospitalised patients.
Dr Peter Scott – Deputy Director and Workforce Management
Dr Scott is a Senior Consultant Intensivist and the Deputy Director of Intensive Care at Mater Health. In addition to his clinical commitments, Peter manages the ICU medical workforce and oversees medical roster management for Mater Hospital Brisbane ICU and Mater Private Hospital ICU. He is also a long-serving member of the Mater Drugs and Therapeutics Committee.
Peter is a Fellow of the College of Intensive Care Medicine (FCICM), a Fellow of the Australia and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (FANZCA) and a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD). He is a CICM Primary Examiner and convenes the annual Mater CICM Primary Short Course and the online Queensland CICM Primary Long Course.
Dr Amod Karnik – Deputy Director and Co-Supervisor of Training
Dr Karnik is a Senior Consultant Intensivist, Co-Supervisor of Intensive Care Training and Deputy Director of Intensive Care Services at Mater Health. He is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Queensland.
Dr Karnik has extensive experience as a clinician and an educator in Australia, the United Kingdom (UK) and India. He has an MD in General Medicine, the European Diploma in Intensive Care Medicine and a Postgraduate Diploma in Clinical Ultrasound. He holds membership of the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) of UK and Specialist Fellowships of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) and the College of Intensive Care Medicine (CICM). In addition he has a Graduate Certificate in Medical Education and is working towards a Master’s degree in Medical Education.
Dr Karnik was a long-serving fellowship examiner for CICM. He served on the CICM Board and was formerly the Chair of CICM’s Hospital Accreditation Committee from 2010 to 2012. He was also the Chair of the Australia and New Zealand Intensive Care Society (ANZICS) Queensland Regional Committee in 2006.
Dr Karnik is the Director and Convener of the Mater Basic Assessment and Support in Intensive Care (BASIC) Course and the Mater ICU Transition and Advanced Airway Skills Course. In addition he has been a faculty member for the Annual Australian Intensive Care Medicine Clinical Refresher Course, Indo-Australian Critical Care Training Program, Beyond BASIC Nephrology Course, Intensive Care Crisis Event Management Course and the Mater Critical Care Ultrasound and Echocardiography Course.
Dr Karnik has published a number of articles on a wide range of topics in Intensive Care Medicine and Medical Education. His work contributed to the improvement and refinement of Translaryngeal Tracheostomy technique.
A/Prof Anne Leditschke – Senior Intensivist, Research and Quality End of Life Care Lead
Associate Professor Anne Leditschke is a Senior Specialist, and leads the Research Program for the Adult Intensive Care Service at Mater Health. Her current research interests include intensive care early rehabilitation and training, clinical ethics, optimising care at the end of life, and healthcare provider professionalism and leadership. She has internationally recognised expertise in intensive care mobilisation and was invited to participate in an international group to develop consensus recommendations on safety criteria for active mobilisation of mechanically ventilated critically ill adults.
A graduate in medicine from the University of Queensland, Anne completed post graduate specialist training in both general internal medicine and intensive care medicine. She has extensive consultant intensive care experience in multiple settings including academic tertiary metropolitan intensive care (QLD, ACT), rural/ regional hospital intensive care (NSW) and private practice (QLD, NSW, ACT). She has extensive clinical leadership experience, and has contributed to multiple committees at national, regional, hospital and unit level. She has a postgraduate management qualification from the Australian National University (ANU).
Anne has a strong interest in health care education at all levels, with involvement in curriculum development, teaching and assessment for university medical, nursing and physiotherapy students at the ANU, University of Canberra, University of Wollongong and University of Queensland and extensive involvement in specialist training and assessment for multiple specialist training colleges including the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, The Royal Australasian College of Physicians and the College of Intensive Care Medicine.
Personal Statement: “I am passionate about patient centred care and integrating research into clinical education and practice so that it becomes a routine part of all aspects of how we work. This means approaching everything we do with curiosity but also robust methodology – what do we need to know, what do we need to do, to provide the best possible care for our patients?”
Dr Andras Nyikovics – Intensivist, Co-Supervisor of Training, Echocardiography, Journal Club and Simulation Lead
Dr Nyikovics is a Consultant Intensivist and Co-Supervisor of Intensive Care Medicine Training at Mater Health.
Dr Nyikovics completed his MD degree at the Medical University of Pecs in Hungary and attained specialist qualification in Anaesthesia and Intensive Care with Semmelweis Medical University in Budapest. He worked as a Specialist Anaesthetist in Hungary. After 2 years of UK work experience, he relocated to Australia, and completed his Intensive Care Medicine Fellowship in Australia. He is a Fellow of the College of Intensive Care Medicine (CICM) of Australia and New Zealand and has a Graduate Certificate in Critical Care Echocardiography from the University of Queensland.
Dr Nyikovics leads the Mater Critical Care Echocardiography Fellowship Program which is jointly administered by the ICU and the Cardiology Department. He is also the unit’s lead in simulation education and journal club. In addition, he spearheads a number of audits and quality improvement projects for the department.
Dr Nyikovics is the founder and convener of the Mater Critical Care Echocardiography Course (CICM training course), and convener of the Mater Critical Care Ultrasound Course. He is a regular faculty member of the Basic Assessment and Support in Intensive Care (BASIC) Course.
Dr Adrian Langley –Intensivist, Information Technology and Digital Solutions (Big data, machine learning, artificial intelligence) Lead
Dr Langley is a Consultant Intensivist at Mater Health, Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Hospital and the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital. He is also a Senior Anaesthetist at Mater Health and Greenslopes Private Hospital in Brisbane and a Senior Lecturer with the University of Queensland.
Dr Langley graduated from the University of Queensland and completed his Anaesthetic and Intensive Care Training in Queensland. He is a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Anaesthetists and a Fellow of the College of Intensive Care Medicine of Australia and New Zealand. In addition, Dr Langley has completed post-graduate training in clinical ultrasound and palliative care medicine. He is a certified Health Informatician (CHIA) and has a Master’s degree in Data Science.
Dr Langley is interested in clinical information system and the application of data science, machine learning and artificial intelligence to improve clinical outcomes. With his skills in programming and coding; Dr Langley designed and built an ICU clinical information system that has been running smoothly for more than 3 years in 3 busy intensive care units. He is currently working with large databases to develop predictive algorithms for various conditions in the ICU.
Dr Ravi Chockalingam Pillai – Intensivist, Quality Assurance Officer, Blood Management Lead, Organ Donation Co-Lead
Dr Pillai is a Consultant Intensivist at Mater Health and QEII Jubilee Hospital. He is a Senior Lecturer at University of Queensland. Prior to joining Mater Health, Dr Pillai served as the Director of ICU at Hervey Bay Hospital from 2014 to 2018.
Dr Pillai completed his medical training at the prestigious Madras Medical College. He subsequently attained the Fellowship in Emergency Medicine (FEM) administered by Apollo Hospital and Royal College of General Practitioners of United Kingdom. He completed his Intensive Care Medicine Training in Australia and is a Fellow of the College of Intensive Care Medicine (CICM) of Australia and New Zealand. Dr Pillai also has a Graduate Diploma in Clinical Ultrasound from the University of Melbourne and is in the process of completing a Master of Medicine Degree in Perioperative Medicine with Monash University.
In addition to his clinical commitments, Dr Pillai is the designated Quality Assurance Officer at Mater Intensive Care and he conducts regular clinical incident reviews for the unit. He leads the ICU blood management program and is one of two designated officers for DonateLife Australia at the Mater. Dr Pillai represents the ICU in Antimicrobial Stewardship (AMS) and Sepsis Working Parties and he supports Dr Peter Scott, Deputy Director of ICU, in workforce and roster management.
Dr Loki Johnk – Intensivist, Clinical Incident Review, In-house Education Program Coordinator and Junior Doctor Mentorship Lead and Organ Donation Co-Lead
Dr Johnk is a Consultant Intensivist at Mater Health. In addition to his clinical commitments, Dr Johnk is in charge of clinical incident review and junior doctor mentorship program. He coordinates the Mater ICU Education Program and is one of the unit’s designated officers for DonateLife Australia.
Dr Johnk completed his medical training at Flinders University in Adelaide. He is a Fellow of the College of Intensive Care Medicine (CICM) of Australia and New Zealand and is in the process of completing a Post-graduate Fellowship in Echocardiography and Clinical Ultrasound.
Dr Johnk is the convener of the Care of the Critically Ill Obstetric Patient Symposium and he is a faculty member for a number of courses including the Basic Assessment and Support in Intensive Care (BASIC) course and Antimicrobial Masterclass (AIM) for Acute Care Practitioners.
Visiting specialists – Dr Shane Townsend, Dr John Morgan, A/Prof David Sturgess, Dr Anand Krishnan, Dr Sam Marment, Dr Chris Flynn, Dr Sean McManus, Dr Prashanti Marella