Dr. Suneel Pooboni

Dr Suneel Pooboni is Head of the Department of Paediatric Critical Care at Mediclinic Airport Road Hospital, UAE. He trained in paediatrics and critical care in the UK at Birmingham Children's Hospital and the Hospital for Sick Children Toronto, and holds a prestigious MD from the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in India (1987). Over two decades as a senior consultant in the UK, he led critical care and ECMO services at University Hospitals of Leicester, then established paediatric critical care units with ECMO capability in India and Abu Dhabi before joining Mediclinic.

Dr Pooboni provides comprehensive critical care for children from newborn to age 18 with acute and chronic respiratory illness, congenital and acquired heart problems, pulmonary hypertension, post-surgical complications, infections, neurological emergencies (including seizures), kidney failure, liver failure, severe burns, polytrauma, and complex congenital malformations. He specialises in extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO)—a life-support technique using a machine to pump and oxygenate blood outside the body—for critically ill children and adults. He brings particular expertise in managing infected, multi-injured, and metabolically complex patients.

Dr Pooboni is recognised internationally as a teacher and mentor, having trained generations of doctors and nurses. He emphasises whole-family support during critical illness and has held leadership roles including past chairmanship of the ECMO Society of India and the South Asia–West Asia chapter of the Extra Corporeal Life Support Organization.