Head of the Adult and Pediatric Intensive Care Department.

More information about David van Westerloo

Head of the Adult and Pediatric Intensive Care Department.

Intensive Care Medicine

The chair covers the field of Intensive Care Medicine in the broadest sense.

Within the Adult and Pediatric ICU, we focus on three main research lines:

Data — including the integration and innovative use of ICU data,
Technology — including mechanical ventilation and ECMO, and
Clinical focus areas — particularly pediatric cardiac surgery.

Within these research domains, David conducts research into AI models and other interventions aimed at delivering more meaningful and efficient intensive care. Together with his research partners, he also explores the innovative use of data, including circadian rhythms and (nutritional) interventions that may influence them.

As part of the Amsterdam Leiden Focussed Intensive care Echography (ALIFE) collaboration, he investigates new ways to apply ultrasound in the ICU, with the goal of replacing conventional radiology wherever possible.

David is also actively involved in many of the other exciting research projects within the ICU. Both he and the ICU department are very open to collaborations that contribute to enjoyable, innovative, and impactful research.

Academic career

David studied medicine at VU University Amsterdam and went on to pursue a PhD in Experimental Internal Medicine at the Academic Medical Center (AMC). He obtained his doctorate in 2007 with the thesis “The Inflammatory Response in Critical Illness”, focusing primarily on the interactions between the brain, the vagus nerve, and the immune system.

While perhaps not his most significant scientific contribution, the project that brought him (and many of his collaborators) the most joy was a study exploring the effects of bungee jumping on the immune response.

After completing his PhD, he trained as an internist at the OLVG, AMC, and in Curaçao. Since 2011, he has been working at the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), where he was appointed Professor and Head of the Intensive Care Department in 2025.