Dean Gopalan, PhD, is Associate Professor, Chief Specialist and Head of Discipline of Anaesthesiology and Critical Care at the Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine in the University of KwaZulu Natal in Durban, South Africa where he serves as anaesthesiologist and intensivist.

He is currently the President of the Critical Care Society of Southern Africa (CCSSA) and has fulfilled numerous additional roles including President of the College of Anaesthetists of South Africa from 2014 to 2020; Honorary Registrar and Chair of Education Committee, and member of the  Board of Directors of the Colleges of Medicine of South Africa (CMSA); member of the Ministerial Advisory Committee COVID-19; member of the ICCM committee of the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiology (WFSA); Advisor to the College of Anaesthesia of Eastern, Central and Southern Africa (CANECSA); and various other regional and national committees.

His primary research interests focus on decision making in critical care, and education and training in anaesthesiology and critical care. In his spare time, you will find him hacking away on the golf course.