It is a pleasure and an honour to be appointed as the new Head of SwissTransplant, Bern, for this is the culmination of many years of experience as a heart and lung transplant surgeon and consultant, surgical study here and abroad, and studies in neurolinguistic support.

The combination of these skills and qualifications will help me to best support our transplant patients. They rely on us tirelessly whilst they wait day-by-day for an organ donation. We are there for them throughout the process, from detection through to the aftercare of the transplant patients.

From 1987 to 1993, I studied medicine and graduated from the University of Bern. After graduating, I spent my internship both in Switzerland and abroad training in different positions including internal medicine, surgery and paediatrics. Upon completion of my training I was awarded the degree of Consultant in Cardiovascular Surgery in Basel and Bern.

As Head Surgeon of the Aortic Clinic, I gained the experience of many heart surgeries while also gaining the appreciation of the importance of aftercare in this highly specialized area.

In January 2006, I took over as the Lead in Clinical Research in Cardiovascular Surgery Department. In collaboration with my team, I was able to achieve multiple significant scientific breakthroughs.

Through a temporary assignment abroad at the Mayo-Clinic in Rochester, USA, I gained insight into a different healthcare system which further expanded my scientific curriculum.

In January 2007, I was awarded a degree of Assistant Professor in Cardiovascular Surgery by the medical faculty of the University of Bern.

At the Inselspital Bern, I was directly involved in heart transplant surgery, which enabled me to be one of the first people involved in cardiac assist devices and its development. This enabled me to collaborate with the organ procurement team.

The experiences I gained with lung transplant patients and patients on the renal dialysis ward, which included shunt surgery within the children’s hospital, quickly showed me how important transplant medicine is today.

In 2007 I was awarded a Master’s Degree in Leadership and Coaching in the USA and UK, which trained me in counselling and support, that aids me in patient preparation and after-care.

It was a path-breaking experience within my study to witness people being stabilized on an assist device and seeing how a transplant can change one’s life back to normal, full of vitality and zest of life.

In my personal environment I relax, recharge my batteries and reload my creativity. During lively discussions, new thoughts and ideas emerge. This gives me the energy and inspiration to create new procedures.

The light-hearted laughter of my wife and my two kids brings joy to my life and belief in the future. This gives me the drive necessary to stand up for people waiting for an organ, during surgery, and aftercare, an arduous, yet rewarding process, to which I am honoured and proud to contribute and lead as the new Head of SwissTransplant.