ICU Specialists

Dr Alex Wurm MBBS, FACEM, FCICM

Alex is currently a Co-Deputy Director of the Intensive Care Unit at St Andrew’s Hospital, having been Director from 2014 until 2023. He initially trained as a Consultant in Emergency Medicine and worked in the Emergency Department at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, before ‘seeing the light’ and completing studies in Intensive Care, attaining his FCICM. He subsequently commenced work as a Consultant Intensivist at Flinders Medical Centre, before returning to the full-time staff of the RAH Intensive Care Unit in 2007. Alex joined AICS in 2012, and has divided his time between St Andrew’s and the RAH since then.

Dr Jonathan Fraser MBBS, FCICM

Jon is the current Director of the Intensive Care Unit at St Andrew’s, having taken over from Alex Wurm in 2023. He completed his ICU training at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, before spending 2 years working in the Royal North Shore and Royal Prince Alfred ICUs in Sydney. He returned to Adelaide in 2014 when he was appointed as a Staff Specialist at the RAH, before also joining AICS later that year. Jon is Co-convenor of Cardiothoracic Advanced Life Support (CALS) Courses and Director of Postoperative Care of the Cardiothoracic Patient (PCCP-RAH) Courses.

CURRENT APPOINTMENTS

Director, ICU, St Andrew’s Hospital

Senior Staff Specialist, ICU, Royal Adelaide Hospital

Associate Professor Mary White MB BCh, BAO, FFARCSI, FJFICMI

Mary studied undergraduate medicine in Ireland and completed the Irish Fellowship in Anaesthesia. She worked as a Consultant in Anaesthesia in Ireland before coming to Australia and working in Intensive Care for 12 months at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital (1994).

Mary then returned to Australia in 1996 to join the full-time staff at the RAH, working half-time in Anaesthesia and half-time in Intensive Care. She subsequently switched to full time Intensive Care in 2000, splitting her time between the RAH and St Andrew’s. She was Director of the ICU at St Andrew’s for the next 14 years, and continues to work at both hospitals. Mary is the coordinator of the Annual Tub Worthley Traveling Research Scholarship for ICU registrars, is an Instructor on BASIC Courses, and is a Past-President of the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society.

CURRENT POSITIONS

Senior Specialist, ICU, St Andrew’s Hospital

Senior Staff Specialist, ICU, Royal Adelaide Hospital

Associate Professor, Acute Care Medicine, University of Adelaide

Chair of the South Australian Board of the Medical Board of Australia

Associate Professor Robert Young MBBS, FCICM, FANZCA, Grad Dip Health, MHSM

Rob graduated from the University of Adelaide Medical School in 1986. He achieved Fellowship of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists in 1992 and Fellowship of the Faculty of Intensive (now FCICM) in 1994. Completed a Graduate Diploma of Health in 1999 and a Masters of Health Service Management in 2003, both at Flinders University.

From 1994 until 1996, Rob undertook an appointment as a visiting lecturer and then associate professor with the Chinese University of Hong Kong and worked in the Intensive Care Unit at the Prince of Wales Hospital, Hong Kong.

He was appointed to the Royal Adelaide Hospital as Consultant in Intensive Care in 1996, as well as being the Director of the St Andrew's Hospital ICU from 1996 until 2000. He was appointed as Director of Clinical Intensive Care at the RAH in 2007, and then the Director of the ICU from 2018 to 2014.

Rob was an examiner for the Fellowship Examination of the Joint Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine for over 10 years, and was appointed Deputy Chair of the Court of Examiners in 2006.

CURRENT POSITIONS

Senior Specialist, ICU, St Andrew’s Hospital

Senior Staff Specialist, ICU, Royal Adelaide Hospital

Associate Professor, Acute Care Medicine, University of Adelaide

Associate Professor Benjamin Reddi MBBS, MA, PhD, FRCP(UK), FCICM

Ben graduated from Cambridge University, worked in Edinburgh and Nottingham (Queens Medical Centre), and completed a Fellowship in advanced cardiopulmonary support before emigrating to Australia.

He completed his specialist training in ICU (FCICM) in 2010, joined the RAH as a full-time Intensive Care Specialist in 2011, and became a member of AICS in 2023.

Ben undertook a sabbatical in a specialist cardiothoracic unit in the United Kingdom during 2015, specialising in ECMO,

He is currently undertaking research into the basic physiology of vascular smooth muscle contraction and platelet function and their derangement in septic shock. These studies involve both human and animal work, translating molecular physiology insights into potential therapeutic strategies. The team uses both functional assays of isolated blood vessel contractility, molecular assays of contractile protein activity patch clamp techniques and whole blood impedance aggregometry. Previous research interests include using systems analysis in the fields of neurobiology (the LATER [linear approach to threshold at ergodic rate] model of decision making) and cardiac physiology (the 'venous excess' model of cardiac function). He has been a member of the ANZICS Clinical Trials Group Committee.

CURRENT POSITIONS

Senior Specialist, ICU, St Andrew’s Hospital

Senior Staff Specialist, Royal Adelaide Hospital

Associate Professor, School of Medicine and Molecular Physiology of Vascular Function Laboratory, University of Adelaide

Clinical Evaluator, Adelaide Health Technology Assessment