Prof. Sabashnikov completed his Cardiothoracic Surgery Residency at the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery of the University Hospital of Cologne, Germany, and at the Department of Cardiothoracic Transplantation and Mechanical Circulatory Support, Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom. He completed specialist trainings with board certifications in specialities cardiac surgery, thoracic surgery and intensive care medicine. His PhD work performed at the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery and Center for Molecular Medicine of Cologne University was graded as “summa cum laude” in 2011. In 2014, Prof. Sabashnikov introduced and developed the ECMO retrieval program at the University Hospital of Cologne and became a Director of this division with membership of Extracorporeal Life Support Organization (ELSO). Furthermore, Prof. Sabashnikov was in charge of the Sector of Cardiothoracic Transplantation and Mechanical Circulatory Support at the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery of the University Hospital Cologne. In 2016 he became Associate Professor and senior lecturer in Cardiothoracic Surgery being responsible for student education and state examinations. Since 2022 he is full professor. In 2024 Prof. Sabashnikov was appointed as Consultant in Heart & Lung Transplantation, Mechanical Circulatory Support & Cardiac Surgery at Royal Brompton & Harefield Hospitals, part of Guy‘s and St Thomas‘ NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom.

Being responsible for therapy of critically ill heart and lung failure patients with extracorporeal life support, Prof. Sabashnikov serves as the fellow of the interdisciplinary working group on shock of the German Interdisciplinary Society of Intensive and Emergency Medicine. His clinical expertise in the field of cardiothoracic transplantation and mechanical circulatory support became the main focus of his clinical and experimental research that resulted in over 230 publications in peer-reviewed journals and over 100 contributions to international conferences. Prof. Sabashnikov is also one of the founders and board members of the international scientific society Integrated Meta-analysis on Cardiac Surgery and Cardiology (IMCSC) group. He has reviewed over 250 papers for more than 30 journals. Also he is a member of Editorial Board in several journals. Prof. Sabashnikov contributed to several books and is Editor of his own book project “ECMO retrieval program foundation” by Springer.