This webinar is being delivered in partnership with Thermo Fisher Scientific.
Sepsis and severe infection remain major challenges in the intensive care setting, where timely diagnosis and appropriate treatment are essential to improving patient outcomes. This webinar will explore how in vitro diagnostics (IVDs) can support the management of sepsis in adult intensive care units (ICUs) through insights from experts in intensive care medicine and clinical microbiology. The session will review current evidence and findings from recent NIHR-funded research, including the ADAPT Sepsis Trial. It will also examine how diagnostic testing can be effectively integrated into clinical pathways, highlighting the role of biomarkers and microbiological investigations in supporting earlier diagnosis, antimicrobial stewardship, and informed patient management.
The speakers will be Professor Paul Dark, Professor of Critical Care and NIHR Senior Investigator, and Dr Aiden Plant, consultant medical microbiologist, infection control doctor and Medical Examiner at Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust. The chair will be Dr Natasha Ratnaraja, a consultant in infection at University Hospitals Coventry & Warwickshire and Chair of RCPath's Medical Microbiology and Medical Virology Specialty Advisory Committee.
A Q&A will follow the talks.
This webinar is part of a series being delivered by the College in partnership with Thermo Fisher Scientific. The other webinars in the series are:
- Latest evidence on diagnostics for infection management in the adult emergency department: from data into clinical practice (15 September, 12:30pm BST)
- Implementing diagnostic strategies for infection management: optimising antimicrobial prescribing in clinical practice (17 September, 12:30pm BST)
This event will take place at 12:30pm and last approximately 1 hour.
Our speakers
Professor Paul Dark
Paul is Professor of Critical Care and NIHR Senior Investigator. His research focus is on how best to diagnose, treat and support patients with suspected life-threatening infections and sepsis. He is Vice Dean for Health and Care Partnerships at The University of Manchester, Academic Director of Health Innovation Manchester, Honorary Professor at The University of Warwick Medical School Clinical Trials Unit, and Visiting Professor at the Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine at King's College London.
Find out more: Professor Paul Dark on the University of Manchester website https://research.manchester.ac.uk/en/persons/paul.m.dark
Dr Aiden Plant
Aiden trained in medical microbiology in the South West, developing interests in antimicrobial and diagnostic stewardship, bone and joint infections, and infections in the immunocompromised host. Since appointment as a consultant microbiologist at Walsall Healthcare in 2018, he has developed a strong interest in antimicrobial stewardship and the optimisation of antimicrobial prescribing. His work centres on integrating diagnostics into clinical pathways to support better antimicrobial decision-making in sepsis and serious infection, including the use of biomarkers such as procalcitonin to help guide escalation and de-escalation of therapy and reduce unnecessary antimicrobial exposure.
Our chair
Dr Natasha Ratnaraja
Dr Ratnaraja is a consultant in infection at University Hospitals Coventry & Warwickshire. She is the Chair for RCPath's Medical Microbiology and Medical Virology Specialty Advisory Committee. She has an interest in laboratory diagnostics and standards and the development of infection services. Dr Ratnaraja authored the BIA/RCPath "Best practice standards for the delivery of NHS infection services in the United Kingdom."
