This special four part series explores the fascinating story of Xtreme Everest – the ground-breaking, research programme that has pursued a novel approach to scientific exploration. Over the last decade, this innovative team has performed large scale studies at high altitude to mimic some of the effects of critical illness. The objective is for their findings to be brought "from the mountainside to the bedside" so that the care for our sickest patients may be improved.

In this podcast, Andrew Murray, discusses the findings from his studies on Everest in which he has investigated novel mechanisms that control mitochondrial function under hypoxic conditions. It is hoped that his discoveries will facilitate major breakthroughs in tailoring medical interventions to improve the outcome of critical care patients.

Presented by Joff Lacey with his guest; Andrew Murray a reader in metabolic physiology at the University of Cambridge. Since 2005, Andrew has been a member of the Xtreme Everest research group, studying mitochondrial function in cardiac and skeletal muscle at high altitude.