Rainer Kimmig (gynecologist)

Rainer Kimmig (born June 30, 1959 in Stuttgart ) is a German scientist , gynecologist and obstetrician .

Live and act

Rainer Kimmig grew up as the eldest son of the doctor Ursula Kimmig née. Faehndrich and the gynecologist Klaus Kimmig, son of the lawyer Rudolf Kimmig and grandson of the doctor and parliamentarian Gustav Kimmig as well as his nephew, the theater director Stephan Kimmig   in Stuttgart .

He attended the Karls-Gymnasium Stuttgart in the humanistic branch and passed the Abitur there in 1978. Kimmig studied human medicine at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU) from 1978 to 1984 and received his doctorate in 1986 with "summa cum laude" at the Institute for Physiological Chemistry at LMU Munich ( Adolf Butenandt Institute ) on the short-term regulation of liver metabolism by glucagon .

From 1985 to 1986, Kimmig received training in pathology at the Bundeswehr Central Hospital in Koblenz , before beginning specialist training in gynecology and obstetrics at the Großhadern Clinic, Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich under the direction of his teacher Hermann Hepp . Kimmig passed the examination to become a doctor for gynecology and obstetrics in 1991 and was appointed senior physician in the same year. In 1999 , Kimmig completed his habilitation with the subject “Flow cytometric DNA analysis of solid gynecological tumors after cytokeratin marking for the detection of tumor cells” and received the Venia Legendi as well as the appointment as a private lecturer at the LMU. In the same year, Kimmig took over the role of senior physician at the university women's clinic in Munich-Großhadern.  

The marriage with Silke Kimmig, nee. Grotta in 1990 and the birth of their six children from 1991 to 1997. 

In 2001, Kimmig accepted the chair for gynecology and obstetrics at the University of Essen , was appointed university professor for life and director of the university gynecological clinic at the university hospital in Essen. Kimmig received further top placements on the appointment lists in 2000 on the chair of gynecology and obstetrics at the Ruhr University Bochum and in 2003 on the chair of gynecology and obstetrics at the LMU. 

In addition to highly qualified medical care, ethical aspects have always been of the highest priority for Kimmig, especially when making decisions in obstetrics at the limit of viability and in the presence of child or maternal diseases. The birth rate of the Perinatal Center Level I at the University Hospital Essen tripled under his leadership from 2001 to 2016.  

In the field of gynecological oncology , the first organ centers of the West German Tumor Center at the University Hospital were established and certified under Kimmig ( Breast Center , Gynecological Cancer Center ). In 2006 the West German Tumor Center achieved the status of one of the 13 top oncological centers in Germany (DKH), which it still holds today. Kimmig was involved in the organ commissions for the ovary and uterus and in particular in the study group of the Gynecological Oncology Working Group (AGO). He was a member of the Council of the European Society of Gynecological Oncology (ESGO) from 2009 to 2015, headed its Educational Committee for four years and served as Vice President for two years. The most important achievement of his tenure was the implementation of the "e-academy", a self-learning multimedia e-learning platform for European gynecological oncology. 

Kimmig recognized the enormous potential of computer-assisted, robot-assisted minimally invasive precision surgery early on. In 2010/2011 he founded the "Essen School of Robotic Surgery" and took over the pioneering role in gynecological robot-assisted surgery in German-speaking countries. In addition to supporting the establishment of new centers throughout Europe, the clinical development of minimally invasive surgical techniques was closely supported by scientific accompanying programs and the results were recorded in numerous publications and “educational videos”.

Kimmig organized the 6th International Congress of the “Society of European Robotic Gynecological Surgery” (SERGS) in Essen in 2014, elected Secretary General in 2015 and President for 2019-2021 in 2017. 

In terms of content, the surgeon and scientist Kimmig concentrated on the implementation and further development of the compartment surgery described by Michael Höckel in gynecology. He transposed this from open surgery to "robot technology" and worked on its further development (cf., inter alia, initial description of the surgical steps for peritoneal mesometrial resection (PMMR) of endometrial cancer [ref. 2013] analogous to total mesometrial resection (TMMR) for cervical cancer ).

In 2015, Kimmig founded the Center for Ontogenic Tumor Surgery at the University Hospital Essen in order to lay the institutional basis for further research into the principles of this new understanding of tumor progression and its implications for the development of therapeutic surgical strategies. At this point in time, he published more than 500 scientific papers. 

For the period from 2016 to 2020, Kimmig was elected to the Council of the “International Gynecological Cancer Society” (IGCS) as a representative for Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

From 2017 to 2019 he will be the chairman of the Lower Rhine-Westphalian Society for Gynecology and Obstetrics and from 2019 to 2021 President of the “Society of European Robotic Gynaecological Surgery” (SERGS).

Specialty and treatment focus

Kimmig is considered a pioneer in the field of computer-assisted and robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery and an expert in gynecological oncology. 

Scientific achievement

In addition to establishing robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery in Germany, Kimmig is the head of numerous clinical studies on tumor treatment in the field of gynecology . In addition, Kimmig is the author and co-author of more than 500 scientific publications and numerous specialist books in the field of gynecological oncology and minimally invasive surgery; For the first time, Kimmig described the possibility of performing a complete compartmental resection of the tumor and its regional lymphatic drainage area "en bloc" with fluorescent marking of the lymphatic drainage pathways. Two of his students were appointed to renowned German chairs; 2012 Pauline Wimberger to the chair for gynecology and obstetrics at the Technical University of Dresden and Bahriye Aktas 2017 to the chair for gynecologists at the University of Leipzig .

Offices and memberships

• Chair for gynecology and obstetrics at the University of Duisburg-Essen
• Director of the University Women's Clinic in Essen
• Medical director of the Breast Center Essen I at the West German Tumor Center (BWTZ)
• Medical director of the gynecological cancer center at the WTZ Essen
• Head of the Center for Ontogenic Tumor Surgery Essen
• Vice President and Head of Educational Committee of ESGO (2011-2015)
• President of SERGS (Society of European Robotic Gynecological Surgery) (2019-2021)
• Council Member IGCS (International Gynecological Cancer Society) 2016–2020
• Head of “European Center in Gynecological Oncology” Essen
• Head of the “European Training Center for Obstetrics and Gynecology” Essen
• Member of Faculty “European Academy of Senology”
• Member of the Core Faculty of the European School of Oncology (ESO)
• Member of the Society of Pelvic Surgeons (SPS)

Font directory

• R. Kimmig, T. Strowitzki, J. Muller-Hocker, R. Kurzl, M. Korell, H. Hepp: Conservative treatment of endometrial cancer permitting subsequent triplet pregnancy. In: Gynecol Oncol. 58 (2), 1995, pp. 255-257. (New operative strategies in oncology)
• R. Kimmig, B. Aktas, P. Buderath, P. Wimberger, A. Iannaccone, M. Heubner: Definition of compartment-based radical surgery in uterine cancer: modified radical hysterectomy in intermediate / high-risk endometrial cancer using peritoneal mesometrial resection (PMMR) translated to robotic surgery by M Hockel. In: World J Surg Oncol. 11 (1), Aug 16, 2013, p. 198.
• R. Kimmig, B. Aktas, P. Buderath, P. Rusch, M. Heubner: Intraoperative navigation in robotically assisted compartmental surgery of uterine cancer by visualization of embryologically derived lymphatic networks with indocyanine-green (ICG). In: J Surg Oncol. 113 (5), Apr 2016, pp. 554-559.
• R. Kimmig, P. Buderath, P. Mach, P. Rusch, B. Aktas: Surgical treatment of early ovarian cancer with compartmental resection of regional lymphatic network and indocyanine-green-guided targeted compartmental lymphadenectomy (TCL, paraaortic part). In: J Gynecol Oncol. 28 (3), May 2017, p. E41.
• R. Kimmig, P. Buderath, P. Rusch: Aktas Technique of ICG-guided Targeted Compartmental Pelvic Lymphadenectomy (TCL) combined with Pelvic Peritoneal Mesometrial Resection (PMMR) for locoregional control of endometrial cancer - A proposal. In: Gynecol Oncol Rep. 20, Apr 6, 2017, pp. 125-126. doi: 10.1016 / j.gore.2017.04.002 .

Web links

• Kimmig in the German National Library

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Vita Kimmig. (PDF) Retrieved March 5, 2017 . 
2. ↑ Vita Kimmig. (PDF) Retrieved May 5, 2017 . 
3. ^ News from UK Essen. Retrieved May 8, 2017 . 
4. ↑ UK Essen. Retrieved May 3, 2017 . 
5. ^ Research Gate. Retrieved June 26, 2017 .