Faculty

Dr. Abdelmalak is a professor of anesthesiology at the Cleveland Clinic, where he spearheads Anesthesia for Bronchoscopy and leads the Anesthesiology oversight for Procedural Sedation and serves as its Quality Improvement Officer. A renowned leader in his field, he co-authored the ASA Difficult airway Management, NPO and GLP-1 guidelines, and SAMBA Diabetes management guidelines. He is a past president of the Society for Head and Neck Anesthesia (SHANA), the Society for Ambulatory Anesthesia (SAMBA), and the Ohio Society of Anesthesiologists.

Currently, he serves as the vice chair of the prestigious ASA Annual Meeting and the chair of the ASA taskforce on NORA and Procedural Sedation. Widely recognized for his expertise, Dr. Abdelmalak is a sought-after speaker at national and international conferences. His prolific contributions to the field include extensive publications on perioperative glucose and diabetes management, anesthesia for bronchoscopy, NORA and airway management. He has also co-edited two acclaimed textbooks: “Anesthesia for Otolaryngologic Surgery” and “Clinical Airway Management”, both published by Cambridge University Press.

Dr. Abdelmalak’s passion for advancing anesthesiology continues to inspire and shape the future of the specialty.

Professor Alex Sia is Senior Advisor and Co-Chairman of Academic Collaborations Council, Singapore Health Services (SingHealth). He is also a Senior Consultant with specialist accreditation in anaesthesiology and intensive care medicine, in the Department of Women’s Anaesthesia of KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH).  

 

He served as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of KKH from 2017 to 2026. Under his leadership, KKH has been consistently recognised as one of Singapore’s Best Employers by The Straits Times, topping the list in the category of Medical and Social sector in 2025, a testament to his commitment to a culture of collaboration and care. KKH also received Newsweek accolades for the hospital’s excellence in providing specialized women and children’s care, including being named as one of Asia Pacific’s Top 10 Best Children’s Hospital in 2025.  

 

Prior to this, Prof Sia was Chairman of the Medical Board at KKH (2012-2017) where he played a pivotal role in the launch of the SingHealth Duke-NUS Academic Clinical Programmes for Paediatrics and Obstetrics & Gynaecology. He was also Deputy Group Chairman, Medical Board of SingHealth (2016-2017), focussing on the formation of SingHealth Duke-NUS Disease Centres to pursue excellent clinical outcomes through seamless, patient-centred care. At the national level, Prof Sia led the Collaborative Prescribing Standing Committee at Singapore’s Ministry of Health (MOH) which enabled shared prescribing responsibilities among healthcare professionals in Singapore.

 

Prof Sia’s pursuit of advancement in the safety and reliability of patient care includes the development of closed-loop, automated and computer integrated administration of medications. As an inventor, he secured four patents which led to the formation of two start-up companies focussing on healthcare development and advancement. His other research interests include artificial intelligence-powered, ultrasound-driven solutions for accurate needle placement and interactive technology in delivering personalised pain therapy. To date, he has published more than 150 peer reviewed scientific articles in indexed journals and multiple book chapters; his index stands at 55.   

A passionate researcher and educator, Prof Sia is a Professor with the Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore. In addition, he holds appointments as Clinical Professor, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore (NUS). He is also Adjunct Professor, Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He was also appointed as Adjunct Professor, Engineering Design and Innovation Centre (EDIC), National University of Singapore (NUS).

 

Prof Sia is the recipient of several awards including the National Day Award - Public Administration Medal (Silver) (2024), the World Health Organization Team Award (2009) and National Medical Excellence Award Team - Perinatal Team (2008) for outstanding contributions in perinatal medicine. He is also recognised among the World’s Top 2% most-cited researchers on the prestigious Elsevier-Stanford List in 2024 and 2025, which ranks over 100,000 scientists across 22 fields. Prof Sia holds a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) and a Master of Medicine (Anaesthesia) Singapore from NUS, and a Master of Business Administration from the Singapore Management University.

Dr. Ezzat Samy Aziz is currently serving as a Professor of Anesthesia and Intensive Care at the Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University Hospital. After completing his undergraduate degree at Cairo University, he was appointed as Anaesthetic Resident at Cairo University Hospitals where he gained extensive experience in various anesthetics sub-specialties.

He conducted his PhD thesis in University of Amsterdam, focusing on neonatal intensive care, which resulted in the attainment of his MD degree. His international experience involved working in different hospitals in the Republic of Ireland and the UK, where he gained exposure to European healthcare practices and successfully passed the Royal College of Anaesthetists fellowship examination in Ireland and the UK. In 2002, he was appointed as Professor of Anesthesia, a position that afforded him nearly four months of leave annually. This opportunity enabled him to establish himself as a Visiting Consultant Anaesthetist in Chesterfield, UK, a role he dedicated himself to for 20 years.

He actively engaged in teaching and research, participating in numerous research projects. His expertise was recognized as he was appointed as an examiner for Master and MD degrees in Anaesthesia at Cairo University, as well as for the fellowship exam in Dublin, Ireland. He further extended his reach as an external examiner in various countries around the world.

Professionally, he founded the African Society of Regional Anaesthesia (AFSRA) in 2011 and currently serves as its president. AFSRA spreads knowledge of regional anesthesia across Africa through annual meetings and workshops. Dr. Aziz has also held leadership roles in international anesthesia congresses and joined the committee of Professional Well Being for the WFSA in 2016.

In his free time, Dr. Aziz indulges in collecting vintage watches and enjoys leisurely activities such as traveling and swimming.

Professor Karmakar Manoj Kumar is an Emeritus Professor from the Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care of the Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong and specializes in paediatric and regional anesthesia. He is the past president of the Asian Society of Paediatric Anaesthesiologist’s (ASPA) and the Past Scientific Convener of the Asian & Oceanic Society of Regional Anaesthesia (AOSRA). Professor Karmakar is internationally recognized for his research in regional anesthesia, in both adults and children, and his areas of research interest include thoracic paravertebral block, spinal sonography, ultrasound guided central neuraxial blocks and local anesthetic pharmacology.

Professor Karmakar has pioneered many novel regional anesthetic techniques and published extensively, with a total 370 publications, of which 180 are in high impact peer review journals. His scholarly research work has been cited 9670 times (Google Scholar as of 30 July 2025) and his H-index is 53. His scholarly contributions have placed him in the top 0.5% of all scholars worldwide and No 13 in the field of regional anesthesia according to the most recent 2024 Scholar GPS rankings. Amongst many other international recognitions Professor Karmakar is the recipient of the coveted Carl Koller Award 2023 of the European Society of Regional Anesthesia (ESRA) for his lifelong contribution to the advancement of regional anesthesia.

Professor Karmakar has been invited as a guest speaker to innumerable international meetings around the world, been a faculty of countless international workshops, and has lectured as a Visiting Professor at reputable international universities. Prof. Karmakar is also an Associate Editor for Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine and a guest reviewer for several reputed journals in Anesthesiology. He has edited several textbooks and authored numerous book chapters in reference textbooks of regional anesthesia.

Dr. med. M. Huppertz-Thyssen MHBA, DESAIC, FESAIC

Director of Anaesthesia, Intensive Care, Emergency Medicine and Pain Therapy St. Augustinus Krankenhaus Dueren

Deputy CMO of St. Augustinus Hospital, Dueren, Germany

Coordinating Director of the Anesthesia and Intensive Care Departments of JG group, Cologne, Germany

Fellow of the European society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care (FESAIC)

Ambassador in Patient Safety ESAIC

Diplomate of the European society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care (DESAIC)

Examiner for EDAIC in German, English, French since 2023

Examiner for German Board Exams in Anaesthesiology and in Intensive Care Medicine

Master- Degree (MHBA) in Ecomics and Management

Doctor- Degree (Thesis, Dr. med.) 2010

Deputy Director of Intensive Care & Pain Therapy, Klinikum Vest, Germany 2016-2017

Senior Consultant at University Clinic Muenster, Germany 2015

Deputy Director of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, St. Marien- Hospital Dueren 2004- 2014

Specialist Degrees in Anaesthesia, Intensive Care, Emergency Medicine, Palliative Care

Subspecializations in Antibiotic Therapy (Antibiotic Stewardship Expert), Hospital Hygiene, Transfusion Medicine, Ultrasound in Anaesthesia & Intensive Care

Frequent international speaker on Regional Anaesthesia, Antimicrobial Stewardship and Patient Blood Management