Kiran Shekar is a Senior Intensive Care Specialist and Director of Research at the Prince Charles Hospital, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. He holds academic appointments as a Professor at the University of Queensland, Adjunct Professor at the Queensland University of Technology and Associate Professor at the Bond University, Gold Coast, Australia.
Shekar is passionate about addressing the global variability in intensive care and extracorporeal life support (ECLS) outcomes through innovation, research, and education. His research interests include pathophysiology of cardiorespiratory failure, ECLS and mechanical circulatory support. His PhD work,” The ECMO PK Project” resulted in an advanced understanding of altered PK/PD on ECMO and provided doing guidance for commonly used antimicrobial and sedative drugs. His ongoing research program “The No Tube Project” aims to integrate less invasive respiratory supports with ECLS to provide more personalized respiratory support and to minimise the burden of invasive mechanical ventilation.
Shekar is an active contributor to the Extracorporeal Life Support Organisation (ELSO) through his research and educational engagements. He is a member of the Asia-Pacific ELSO Education Committee and is the Course Director of an ELSO endorsed ECMO course. He is the research lead for ELSO Education Taskforce (ELSOed) and as a member of the scientific committee of the International ECMO Network, he contributes to global collaborative research in ECMO.