Hendrik Jan Ankersmit, Professor in Thoracic Surgery
“The Responsibility of the Translational Research Surgeon at MedUni Vienna”
Introduced by: Michael Mildner, Department of Dermatology, MedUni Vienna
Hendrik Jan Ankersmit is a specialist in cardiac, thoracic, and general surgery and has been a senior consultant at the Department of Thoracic Surgery since 2010. His scientific focus lies in translational surgical research. Under his leadership, AposecTM — the secretome of stressed white blood cells — was advanced to clinical maturity as an Investigational Medicinal Product (IMP). Within the framework of his professorship, his goals include continuing basic research in thoracic surgical questions and further developing AposecTM for additional disease entities.
Ankersmit: “Basic research and product development in surgery are a societal endeavor. The aim of this professorship is to describe and further advance successful translational research and its implementation.”
Andreas Zuckermann, Professor of Heart Transplantation
“Band of Brothers and Sisters. Heart Transplantation between Science, Excellence & Humanity”
Introduced by: Günther Laufer, Division of Cardiac Surgery, MedUni Graz
Andreas Zuckermann is a specialist in surgery and cardiac surgery and completed his habilitation on “New Immunosuppressive Concepts after Local Transplantation.” He is the second deputy head of the Department of Cardiac and Thoracic Aortic Surgery at MedUni Vienna and Vienna General Hospital (AKH) and has directed the heart transplantation program at MedUni Vienna since 2006. Under his leadership, the program has become one of the largest and most successful in Europe, achieving multiple medical pioneering accomplishments.
Zuckermann is a member of the Medical Board of Eurotransplant, the international organization coordinating and allocating donor organs. His research focuses on sustainably improving heart transplantation outcomes through new organ preservation technologies, a better understanding of immunological processes, and the use of large patient data sets.