Why he matters in this case
Prof. Hummler is the senior German signatory to the Panel report. German neonatology operates on broadly equivalent clinical protocols to UK and Nordic neonatology, and Ulm University is one of Germany’s leading neonatal research centres. His specific research interest — neonatal ventilation and lung physiology — is directly relevant to several of the indicted cases in which respiratory collapse and ventilation management were central.
His signature on the Panel’s findings adds a respiratory-physiology dimension to the case-by-case review: many of the collapses had a respiratory component, and differential-diagnosis reading of those collapses benefits from a senior neonatal ventilation researcher’s calibration.
Professional background
- Professor of Neonatology, Ulm University, Germany.
- Decades of research and clinical practice in neonatal intensive care, with particular focus on mechanical ventilation strategies, respiratory physiology and the management of extremely preterm lung disease.
- Author of peer-reviewed publications on neonatal ventilation strategies and outcomes.
- Member of the Shoo Lee International Expert Panel.
What his contribution adds to the Panel review
In cases where a baby collapses with a respiratory presentation — apnoea, oxygen desaturation, sudden deterioration on ventilation — the differential-diagnosis question is whether the respiratory picture is consistent with an identifiable natural cause (ventilation-related, surfactant-related, infection-related, bronchopulmonary dysplasia-related) or requires a non-natural explanation. Prof. Hummler’s specific expertise is in reading that differential.
The Panel’s reading that every indicted collapse is explicable without deliberate harm incorporates this respiratory-physiology calibration on the relevant cases.