Joel Starkopf is a professor of anaesthesia and intensive care at the University of Tartu, head of the Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Clinic, Tartu University Hospital. He graduated from University of Tartu, Estonia, in 1991, and received his training as an anaesthetist and intensive care specialist. From 2009 to 2015 he was dean of the Faculty of Medicine, and since then he has headed up the Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Tartu. His scientific experience ranges from animal experiments to multicentre clinical trials and systematic reviews. His research has focused on abdominal problems in intensive care patients; ischaemia-reperfusion of the heart and myocardial preconditioning; and pharmacokinetics of antibacterial drugs in severe sepsis and septic shock. He has published more than 70 peer reviewed scientific papers. He has broad clinical practise as an intensivist, and supervises the University Hospital department with the highest caseload for anaesthesia, intensive care and emergency medicine in Estonia.