Stefan De Hert

Stefan De Hert received his medical degree at the University of Antwerp, Belgium in 1984. Subsequently he completed anesthesiology residency training at the Antwerp University Hospital. After his training he accepted a faculty position in the department and served as vice chairman of the Department of Anesthesiology at the Antwerp University Hospital and professor of Anesthesiology at the University of Antwerp for over 10 years. From 2007 to 2010 he acted as Professor of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Anesthesiology at the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and Director of the Division of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Anesthesiology at the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam. Presently, he is Professor of Anesthesiology and Director of Research at the Department of Anesthesiology of the University Hospital of Ghent.

His early work and PhD thesis, which he defended in 1992, explored the role of the endocardial endothelium in the regulation of myocardial function. His academic interests have focused on perioperative cardiac function with emphasis on diastolic function, transesophageal echocardiography, perioperative organ protective strategies and outcome after anesthesia, hemodilution and volume replacement strategies, and perioperative cerebral oxygenation.

He has authored and co-authored over 200 articles in peer-reviewed journals and several chapters in different textbooks. He is Associate Editor the Journal of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Anesthesia and acts as regular reviewer for several major anesthesiology, cardiology and surgery journals.

Prof. De Hert acted as chair of the ESA Scientific Committee. He is currently president of the European Society of Anesthesiology.