Dr. Ruediger Noppens

NoppensAssociate Professor
Director, Site Chief of Anesthesia at UH
FRCPC 

email: ruediger.noppens@lhsc.on.ca

 

version française

Biography

Dr. Ruediger (Rudy) Noppens studied medicine at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany. During his studies, he worked as a paramedic in the region around Mainz and trained commercial aircrews in first aid. He also continued volunteering for the German Red Cross, where he trained as a paramedic. As a student, he showed interest in basic sciences and joined as a Ph.D. student the neuro-research lab of the university.

Rudy did part of his internship in Ireland, perfecting his English, and returned to Mainz for his residency in Anesthesia. He qualified as a pre-hospital emergency physician during his residency, taking shifts on ambulances. After completing his Ph.D., he did a 3-year post-doctoral neurosciences fellowship at the Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland, USA.

2008, he obtained his board certification as Anesthesiologist in Germany. He was recruited by the university hospital that had trained him. The same year, he took extensive training as a chief emergency physician and was named one of the few honorary public officials of the City of Mainz and region, so he could take on the critical role of overseeing and directing large medical operations in cases of mass casualties. He also started working as an emergency physician in air rescue services.

2009, Rudy started a fellowship in Intensive care, obtaining board certification as an Intensive Care physician a year later. Shortly after, he started rotating in several leadership positions in Anesthesia, including Chief for Pediatric Anesthesia, Gynecology and Obstetric anesthesia, and Chief of head and brain-related anesthesia. He participated as a trainer in the yearly training cohorts of chief emergency physicians for the State of Rhineland Palatine, Germany. He also embarked on research projects around airway management, leading to multiple publications and conferences, including participating in elaborating German pre- and hospital guidelines. He became intensely involved with the German Society of Anesthesia and the European airway management society, where he worked on their board for many years. He started working on a different thesis, and in 2013, he obtained the academic title of "Privatdozent," Dr. med. habil, what the Canadian system resembles as a promotion to associate professor.

2016, Rudy relocated to London, ON, to work as an associate professor at the Schulich School of Medicine. He was also appointed Director of Neuroanesthesia. He continued to be involved in Airway management, joining the Canadian Airway Focus Group, and working on the Canadian guidelines on airway management. At the beginning of the pandemic, learning from his numerous contacts in Europe what worked and what did not in the countries first hit by COVID-19, Rudy spearheaded a multi-departmental COVID Team, bringing together physicians and nurses voluntarily from Anesthesia, Intensive Care Medicine, Emergency Medicine, and different nursing departments to safely and swiftly intubate and support the sickest patients, with the safety of the workers being always at the forefront. After the ramp-down of more acute COVID-19 responses, Rudy became the Anesthesia Site-Chief for University Hospital.

Furthermore, throughout all the different roles and sectors he has worked in, Rudy's passion remains the best evidence-based, quality patient care and teaching the newest generation of healthcare workers to deliver the best quality care.

Publications

  • Noppens RR. Intubationen auf der ITS - konventionell oder videolaryngoskopisch? Journal Club AINS 2017; 6: Seiten: 162; 165. 
  • Ott T, Barth A, Kriege M, Jahn-Eimermacher A, Piepho T, Noppens RR. The novel video-assisted intubating laryngeal mask Totaltrack compared to the intubating laryngeal mask Fastrach - a controlled randomized manikin study. Acta Anaesthesiol Scand. 2017 Apr;61(4):381-389.