Olaf Cremer (intensivist at division Vital Functions) will be appointed as professor of "Clinical epidemiology of sepsis" on July 1, 2020. The chair falls within the UMC Utrecht strategic program Infection & Immunity.

Cremer (1971) was trained as an anesthesiologist, intensivist and clinical epidemiologist. He has been working in the intensive care unit (ICU) at UMC Utrecht since 2007. Cremer led the implementation of the patient data management system at the ICU and developed various new functionalities for this. His detailed knowledge of the system and programming skills enabled him to use this clinical database as a resource for various research projects.

Sepsis biomarkers

Since 2011, he has led the research line "sepsis & inflammation" within division Vital Functions. His group investigates the epidemiology of (especially nosocomial) infections in critically-ill patients in the ICU and in the postoperative setting. In particular, methods are sought for early diagnostics and prognostication using (new) biomarkers. In addition, etiological research is conducted into the short- and long-term attributive effects of sepsis and acute inflammation, using modern methodological insights and advanced mathematical modeling. Finally, applications are being developed for decision support in the diagnosis and treatment of ICU-acquired infections.

MARS and PLUTO studies

Cremer is a principle investigator of the MARS study, a long-term cohort study that aims to develop new molecular techniques for diagnostics and risk stratification of sepsis. To this end, more than 15 thousand patients have been included in a (very large) biobank, of which approximately 40 percent had sepsis at presentation, or developed during ICU admission. The PLUTO initiative has been added as of this year. This concerns a prospective biobank project for patients undergoing elective high-risk surgery at UMC Utrecht, in which approximately 450 participants will be included annually. With the data, measurements and samples collected within PLUTO and MARS, various sub-studies are carried out aimed at validating new biomarkers and molecular tests that allow to diagnose an infection more quickly, identify the causative microorganism and the risk of complications. Currently 5 PhD students are working on a PhD track within MARS/PLUTO, while 6 others have already completed their dissertation.