Bernd Gänsbacher

Bernd Gänsbacher (2014)

Bernd Gänsbacher (born March 5, 1948 in Sarnthein , South Tyrol , Italy) is a specialist in internal medicine , allergy / immunology , hematology / oncology and an emeritus professor at the Technical University of Munich . He was one of the first clinicians in the world to help develop gene therapy and introduce it to the clinic.

Life

After graduating from the Scientific Lyceum Bressanone, Gänsbacher completed his medical studies at the University of Innsbruck , Austria . After starting his internist training with Herbert Braunsteiner at the Medical Clinic of the University of Innsbruck, he moved to the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia , USA in 1980 to complete his internship and residency in internal medicine. This was followed by specialist training (fellowship) in allergy / immunology at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1986, Gänsbacher moved to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) in New York City to complete further specialist training (fellowship) in hematology / oncology. All specialist training was successfully completed with specialist examinations (Board Certification in Internal Medicine, Allergy / Immunology and Oncology). In 1988 he moved from his training position to the teaching staff of the MSKCC, initially as a clinical assistant in the Leukemia Service of the Department of Hematological Oncology.

Act

Within a very short time he did his doctorate from the Clinical Assistant position and Assistant Member in 1994 to Associate Member and Professor of the Leukemia Services of the MSKCC. In 1990, working groups at Johns Hopkins University , Harvard University and Eli Gilboa's working group at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, in which Gänsbacher worked, published for the first time that genes could be used and cured as drugs in cancer. Gänsbacher was responsible for the introduction of gene therapy in the Memorial Hospital of the MSKCC and started two gene therapy studies on patients with melanoma and kidney cancer in 1992 as the responsible physician . During his clinical work at the MSKCC, Gänsbacher published over 100 scientific publications.

In 1996, Gänsbacher was appointed to the Technical University of Munich, Klinikum rechts der Isar , as full professor and director of the Institute for Experimental Oncology and Therapy Research. Prof. Gänsbacher developed a new teaching method for medical students with the case discussion rounds (CDR), which are now used by the Technical University of Munich, the Ludwig Maximillians University of Munich and the leading US institutions (Weill Cornell Medical School, Rockefeller University, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center). For this, Prof. Gänsbacher received the Georg Maurer Medal from the Medical Faculty of the Technical University of Munich in 2016.

In 2000 he was elected President of the European Society for Cell and Gene Therapy, an office he held until 2004. In 2004, Gänsbacher was appointed to the Central Commission for Biological Safety (ZKBS) of the Ministry of Health in Berlin by the then Minister Horst Seehofer . He is still a member of this body. In 2013 Gänsbacher was appointed by the European Parliament as the representative for doctors of the European Union in the Committee for Advanced Therapies (CAT), European Medicine Agency (EMA) in London. This body is responsible for drug approval in Europe. Gänsbacher retired in 2013, but is still a member of the ZKBS and the EMA.

In 2018 Gänsbacher ran in the state elections for the South Tyrolean People's Party .

Honors

• Cancer Research Institute FM Kirby Clinical Research Award for Cancer Immunology recipient, USA, 1993
• Degussa Foundation Prize, University of Frankfurt, Germany, 1993
• CaP CURE Research Award, Los Angeles, USA, 1994
• Visiting Professor, Kyushu University, Beppu, Japan, 1998
• President European Society of Gene Therapy (ESGT) 2000-2004
• European Society of Gene Therapy (ESGT) Lifetime Achievement Award 2004
• Member of the “Somatic Gene Therapy” commission of the German Medical Association, 1999–2002
• Member of the Central Ethics Commission of the German Medical Association, 2004–2007
• Member of the Central Commission for Biosafety (ZKBS), Federal Ministry for Consumer Protection and Food since 1999
• Honorary citizen of the Sarntal community, South Tyrol 2012
• Member of the Committee for Advanced Therapies (CAT), European Medicine Agency (EMA), London, since 2013
• Georg-Maurer Medal of the Medical Faculty of the Technical University of Munich 2016

Books

• The language of genes explained in an understandable way. Raetia, Bozen 2009, ISBN 978-88-7283-347-6 .
• Why do people get cancer? Athesia, Bozen 2011, ISBN 978-88-8266-719-1 .
• Lower cancer risk through healthy eating. Athesia, Bozen 2013, ISBN 978-88-8266-919-5 .
• People don't want to know, they want to believe. Psyche and cancer. Athesia, Bozen 2016, ISBN 978-88-6839-166-9 .

Web link

• Curriculum vitae of Bernd Gänsbacher , website of the European Medicines Agency

Individual evidence

1. ↑ GeMCRIS ( Memento of the original from March 20, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
2. ^ Tri-Institutional MD-PhD Program - Case Discussion Rounds. Retrieved April 20, 2017 . 
3. ↑ International Case Discussion Summer School - Medical Faculty - LMU Munich. Retrieved April 20, 2017 . 
4. ↑ European Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (ESGCT)
5. ^ Committee for Biologic Safety of the Federal Ministry for Consumer Protection and Food Safety (ZKBS) , Berlin
6. ↑ European Medicine Agency EMA , London
7. ^ MRI News. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on February 27, 2017 ; accessed on February 27, 2017 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.