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New Medical Directors at the Department of Cardiology and Angiology and the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery

Since August 1, 2022, Prof. Dr. Dirk Westermann has been Medical Director of the Department of Cardiology and Angiology and Prof. Dr. Martin Czerny has been Medical Director of the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery at the Medical Center - University of Freiburg. In addition, the Departments of Cardiology and Angiology I and II have been merged. Westermann succeeds Prof. Dr. Christoph Bode and Prof. Dr. Franz-Josef Neumann, while Czerny succeeds Prof. Dr. Friedhelm Beyersdorf.

"The University Heart Center is one of the largest and most efficient centers for cardiovascular medicine in Europe. With the two new Medical Directors, we are strongly positioned for the future. This will bring the clinics and their departments even closer together, which will directly benefit our patients," says Prof. Dr. Frederik Wenz, Chief Medical Officer of the Medical Center - University of Freiburg. The University Heart Center with its two sites in Freiburg and Bad Krozingen treats around 36,000 outpatients and around 20,000 inpatients every year, including the highest number of heart attack patients in Germany.

Cardiovascular diseases are increasingly being treated on an interdisciplinary basis to ensure optimal treatment success. This is because clinical pictures and therapies are becoming increasingly complex. "The team concept is very important to me. I am therefore delighted that there is already excellent interdisciplinary collaboration at the University Heart Center, which we will continue to intensify," says Westermann.

"We will strengthen the center concept and set up additional focus units in which patients receive all-round care," explains Czerny. For example, an interdisciplinary unit for the diagnosis and treatment of patients with heart valve diseases is planned, as well as a Heart Failure Unit, where patients with advanced heart failure will receive optimal care. The internationally recognized Departments of Rhythmology and Angiology are also becoming more interdisciplinary, allowing even better therapies to be offered.

About the person: Prof. Dr. Dirk Westermann

Dirk Westermann studied medicine in Munich, Vienna and Berlin. He received his doctorate from Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin in 2006 and habilitated there in 2011. In 2013, he moved to the University Heart and Vascular Center Hamburg as a senior physician, where he was Medical Director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory and, from 2016, also Deputy Medical Director of the Clinic for Cardiology.

Westermann's clinical focus is on the treatment of coronary heart disease such as myocardial infarction and valvular heart disease. He places a clinical and scientific focus on research into innovative treatment approaches for "cardiogenic shock", in which the heart suddenly loses its pumping capacity. Another focus is the early diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases using suitable metabolic products. "Research at the University Heart Center is at the highest international level," says Westermann. "By understanding the basics, we can improve treatment concepts and develop new ones. Our goal at the University Heart Center is to continue to offer our patients the best medicine in the future."

About the person: Prof. Dr. Martin Czerny

Martin Czerny received his doctorate in Vienna in 1998. After working in Bern and Zurich, he joined the University Heart Center - University of Freiburg Medical Center in 2015 as Section Head of Open and Endovascular Vascular Surgery. In 2020, he was appointed to a Heisenberg Professorship for conventional and interventional aortic surgery at the University of Freiburg. Czerny is (co-)editor of several scientific journals and chairman of German and European expert committees in cardiovascular surgery.

Czerny's clinical specialties include interventions on the aorta and coronary arteries as well as the insertion of heart valves. He also specializes in heart transplants and the treatment of complex inflammations of the heart. His research focuses, among other things, on the development of new forms of treatment for diseases of the aorta. The causes of a rupture of the aorta are not yet known and its occurrence is completely unpredictable. Czerny and his team hope to gain new insights by researching blood values that indicate a personal risk of aortic rupture. He is also investigating new interventions on the aorta to prevent strokes.

Image 1: Together they strengthen the University Heart Center Freiburg - Bad Krozingen: Prof. Dr. Dirk Westermann (left) and Prof. Dr. Martin Czerny
Image source: Medical Center - University of Freiburg

Image 2: Prof. Dr. Martin Czerny
Image source: Medical Center - University of Freiburg

Image 3: Prof. Dr. Dirk Westermann
Image source: Medical Center - University of Freiburg / Britt Schilling

Contact:
Prof. Dr. Dirk Westermann
Medical Director
Department of Cardiology and Angiology
University Heart Center
Uniklinik Freiburg
Phone: 7633 402-2001
Dirk.westermann@uniklinik-freiburg.de

Prof. Dr. Martin Czerny
Medical Director
Department of Cardiovascular Surgery
University Heart Center
Uniklinik Freiburg
Phone: 07633 402-6216
martin.czerny@uniklinik-freiburg.de