As a physician-scientist my long-term research interests are perioperative injury and pharmacological organ protection with a particular interest in organ transplantation, the role of the immune system during the perioperative period and pleiotropic effects of anaesthetic agents. It is key for the future benefit of our patients to search for patient- and organ-protective strategies that reduce complications and improve outcomes. This is an important paradigm shift in the way we look at anaesthesiology, from a facilitating role in surgical care to a central role in perioperative medicine and it extends the role of the anaesthesiologist beyond the operating theatre to the wider community.