ECMO Retrieval Program Foundation

Anton Sabashnikov, born 1983, received his medical degree from the Medical Faculty of the University of Duisburg-Essen. He completed his Cardiothoracic Surgery Residency at the Department of Cardiac Surgery, Intensive care Medicine and Thoracic Surgery of the University Hospital of Cologne, Germany, and at the Department of Cardiothoracic Transplantation and Mechanical Circulatory Support, Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom. In 2014, Anton Sabashnikov introduced and developed the ECMO retrieval program at the University Hospital of Cologne and became a Co-Director of this division with membership of Extracorporeal Life Support Organization (ELSO). Furthermore, Anton Sabashnikov has been in charge of the Sector of Cardiothoracic Transplantation and Mechanical Circulatory Support at the University Hospital of Cologne. In 2016, Anton Sabashnikov became Associate Professor and Senior Lecturer in his filed of expertise being responsible for student education and state examinations.

The main focus of his clinical and experimental research and expertise is in the field of cardiothoracic transplantation and mechanical circulatory support that also resulted in over 200 publications in peer-reviewed journals and over 60 contributions to international conferences. Anton Sabashnikov is also one of the founders and board members of the international scientific society Integrated Meta-analysis on Cardiac Surgery and Cardiology (IMCSC) group. He has reviewed over 250 papers for over 30 journals.

Thorsten Wahlers, born 1958, is a University Professor and the Director of the Heart Center for Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, University Hospital of Cologne, Germany.

After studying medicine in Bonn, Düsseldorf and Cologne, Professor Wahlers received his doctorate from the University of Cologne. He started his surgical career 1983 at Hannover Medical School with Professor Hans Borst and became a senior cardiothoracic and vascular surgeon in 1991 at the University of Hanover. In 1986/87 he worked in Harefield, United Kingdom, with Professor Magdi Yacoub. He was first appointed Professor in 1996 at Hannover Medical School. In 1999 he became University Professor and Chief of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery at the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena.  In November 2005, he took over the Department of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgery at the University Hospital Cologne.

Professor Wahlers specialities include complex bypass surgery, minimally invasive valve surgery including all catheter-interventional procedures, aortic aneurysm and dissection surgery, ECMO and ECLS therapy, cardiac assistance devices, heart and lung transplants, as well as thoracic surgery.

He received numerous prices, published more than 580 papers in national and international journals and is serving as reviewer for more than 25 journals. Many of his scholars have reached leading positions in university and academic hospitals.

Thorsten Wahlers is a member of numerous national (DGTHG, DGK) and international associations (EACTS, STS, AATS). He is also a consultant for the German Society for Thoracic, Cardiovascular Surgery, the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation, the Federal Ministry of Health and the German Research Foundation.