Consultant Intensivist and Nephrologist, Saolta Hospital Group, Honorary Senior Lecturer, National University of Ireland, Galway, contributor to the COVID-19 Critical Care Consortium.

I’ve lead clinical studies on awake prone positioning in Ireland as well as working on understanding immune response in sepsis and respiratory failure. Our treatments in the ICU are based on better understanding of disease which required sound scientific principles to develop.

What do you love most about working in science? I love that I’m part of this process to continue improving what we do, so we can make people better faster. I love having patients and their families involved in research so we develop treatments that are acceptable and manageable.

Recent career highlight? I’m most proud of my involvement in the awake prone positioning meta-trial group where we showed a meta-trial could demonstrate that awake prone positioning reduces need for invasive mechanical ventilation and death in patients with severe COVID-19.

Do you have any mentors who you look to for advice? I’m lucky to have really strong female mentors who show that I can do science every day as well as being a doctor, and these include Dr Marie Hogan at the Mayo Clinic Rochester and Dr Kim Muczynski at the University of Washington, Seattle.

Senior Research Technician, COVID-19 Critical Care Consortium

What lead you to work in the field of science? Curiosity. As a data person, I’m always curious to explore the meaning behind those digits. The scientific exploration process is a learning journey to me, which triggers me to continuously ask questions and find logical explanations when conducting my work.

What do you love most about being involved in science and research? I love the chance to face the challenges and solve problems in a daily basis. I love puzzles, and it is fulfilling to tackle problems, but what’s more interesting to me is to spot a problem and ask the right question. Involving in science, specifically in data science provides valuable opportunities for me to explore the data, make sense of the data and solve the puzzle.

Greatest scientific development? From a computer science background, I would say the greatest scientific development is the internet, which has connected the world and make information accessible to people from the globe.

Role model or mentor? One of the scientists I admire the most is Yan Ning. She is a female biologist receiving multiple awards in the field, including the regional winner of the Young Scientist Award in North America. She is an inspiration for female scientists in China, who has shown that women can do what they want to achieve in the STEM field as well.

Contributor to the COVID-19 Critical Care Consortium.

What led you to work in the field of research? As a physician and a clinical lecturer specialized in pulmonary infection, I see that some exceptional effort should be done to tackle what infectious disease do with us.

I do not want to be an inert physician that only depend on existing medication. I want to be one of contributors who pave the way for the next medical advancement. To do that in a robust and rational way, I need to use the tools of research. Most of physician might tend to only use the product of research, some of them choose to be involved in research, but I am determined to be a few of them who contribute more in research.

Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care, National Cardiovascular Center Harapan Kita, Jakarta, Indonesia, Contributor to the COVID-19 Critical Care Consortium

What led you to work in the field of science? My late father, a scientist, always advised me that I should be a scientific doctor and always have new ideas for the advancement of science.

Manager, Critical Care Research Group

What led you to work in the field of science and research? My study and subsequently undertaking a small research project overseas allowed me to appreciate how impactful research can be not just for individuals but whole communities.

While I don’t consider myself a researcher, I find my role as manager of a research group incredibly rewarding. My responsibility is to ease the burden of establishing and administering projects, allowing those within our group to focus their time where it matters most.

What do you love most about being involved in science and research? I have the pleasure of working with an amazing group of people that dedicate their lives to finding ways to improve patient care and outcomes. I’ve witnessed members of our team translate their research into lifesaving procedures and without pomp, come back the next day to find ways to not only replicate but enhance their work.

Member of COVID-Critical Steering Committee, leader of Hemostasis/Anticoagulation sub-study, and mentor.

What led you to work in research and science? Wanting to answer questions about improving outcomes in patients requiring extracorporeal life support. As a critical care fellow, research was required, and I had been interested in ECMO for sometime. I used to make money moonlighting by sitting at the pump as an ECMO specialist. During fellowship, I learned how to conduct research and how difficult it can be, but how invigorating it can be.

Having good mentors is imperative to becoming a good researcher, and I have been lucky to have these including Pat Kockner (always willing to talk, share advice, give you opportunities), Ann Thompson (a great female role model, as someone who also came up in Critical Care when it was a male dominated field, and became a leader nationally and internationally), and Murray Pollack (a research mentor). Murray was responsible for getting Phoenix Children’s and myself into the NIH Collaborative Pediatric Critical Care Research Network, from which I was the PI for a multicenter study of ECMO and bleeding/thrombosis. This project has been the most successful part of my career and I am still developing manuscripts and new projects based on its results.

Clinical Nurse - Research, Critical Care Research Group

What lead you to work in the field of science? It began with an interest In “why do we do what we do?” which developed into “how do we know we are right?”

What do you love most about working in the field? The collaborative effort – no single person can do anything without a team, each discipline is just as valuable as the next in project success.

Greatest scientific development in your opinion? Antibiotics!

Is there someone you look up to in the the world of science and research? Neil deGrasse Tyson – that is one guy I’d love to meet!

Critical Care Physician, Clinician Scientist, Interdepartmental Division of Critical Care Medicine, University of Toronto. Contributor to the COVID-19 Critical Care Consortium.

What led you to work in science? Critical care has allowed me to practice medicine that covers a wide range of diseases presenting in their most extreme state. I love the frequent applied physiology that occurs at the bedside in managing patients. In critical care, I get to work with compassionate, multi-disciplinary teams dedicated to advancing the care of patients (nurses, respiratory therapists, pharmacists, social work, nutrition, physiotherapy, spiritual care). I have the privilege to manage patients and support families in their most vulnerable state in the face of critical illness. Working as a clinician researcher helps keep me curious at the bedside and facilitates answering questions or enhancing the quality of care we deliver. It's an immense privilege to do this job.

Senior Research Fellow and Statistician with the COVID-19 Critical Care Consortium and Senior Research Fellow: Statistics, Australian Centre for Health Services Innovation.

What led you to work in the field of science and research? I completed an undergraduate degree in Mathematics at QUT. Throughout my degree, I had hands-on experience analysing real-world data and was drawn to applications of statistics in health and medical research. These experiences led me to study a PhD in Statistics, where I was able to combine my technical skills with learning how to communicate the value of statistics to different audiences.

What do you love most about being involved in research? Data is everywhere and is being used to answer increasingly complex questions about our health and wellbeing. As a statistician, I apply a range of skills to turn data into meaningful information that can be used in decision making. Being part of this process working together with medical experts is incredibly rewarding.

Greatest scientific development in your opinion? A scientific development communicated as a statistic…332 days – the number of days between scientists publishing the first genetic sequence of COVID-19 and the first dose of an effective vaccine.

Role model or mentor? Working with clinicians has made me appreciate the biggest challenges facing health and medical research today. Their expert perspectives are incredibly valuable and have helped me become a better researcher and communicator.

Physician in training and passionate researcher at the Medical University of Vienna, part of the COVID-19 Critical Care Consortium.

What led you to work in the field of medicine? It just somehow happened and turned out to be the perfect fit.

What do you love most about being involved in science and research? The great advances in evidence-based medicine, the constant development of treatment strategies and implementation of new therapeutic approaches keeps us on our toes so we never get bored.

Greatest scientific development in your opinion? Penicillin, vaccinations and prone positioning.

Who do you look up to in the world of science? I owe so many aspects of my clinical and scientific development to my mentors and friends Prof Thomas Staudinger and Prof Peter Schellongowski, which is why am so grateful to both.

Critical Care Doctor, Teine Keijinkai Hospital, Japan. Contributor to the COVID-19 Critical Care Consortium.

Why did you pursue a career in medicine? I started to learn and got into science and medicine because I was interested in the normal structure of the human body, diseases and recovery.

What do you love most about being involved with science, research and medicine? Science brings us the answers we seek, such as the causes of new diseases and potential treatments. Science can bring new perspectives to social and philosophical issues and the multifaceted answers that science contributes to society are fascinating!

Research Program Support Officer, COVID-Critical.

What led you to work in the field of science? I've always wanted to work in the health industry to be able to help people. While at university I realised the importance of research and science and how it can improve the health of a large number of people, this has led me to continue my study in Clinical Epidemiology.

What do you love most about being involved in science and research? I love that the work the team and I do helps larger populations. I also love that I get to learn something new everyday and meet new people from across the world.

Greatest scientific development in your opinion? Definitely the internet! The internet gives us so many tools in research, we have the ability to share so much knowledge and meet so many people virtually that we have never met face to face before.

Do you have a role model or someone you look up to in the world of science? I definitely look up to Florence Nightingale and Dr John Snow. Both made incredible discoveries in public health, implementing practices we still use today.