HealthManagement, Volume 15 - Issue 1, 2015

1. What are your key areas of interest and research?

Supporting and promoting radiology at a European level, including defining the changing role of radiology and shaping its position in the interaction of the different clinical specialties. My key scientific interests are abdominal and genitourinary imaging, in particular the detection and characterisation of liver tumour, the diagnosis of malignant uterine tumours, and MR diagnosis of prostate cancer.

 

2. What are the major challenges in your field?

Radiology is one of the medical specialties with the most dynamic development and the most breathtaking innovations. I hope that different subspecialties continue under the common roof of radiology. We must not slacken in our efforts to further improve and advance radiological diagnosis and patient treatment.

 

3. What is your top management tip?

To have motivated staff willing to provide empathetic medical care to the benefit of our patients and continuing to be curious to do good research. My guiding motto is “You must succeed at home first before you can start dreaming about playing Champions League”. So one must first show a good performance in organising one’s own department and other local activities before one can get involved in international professional activities and expect to succeed there.

 

4. Your career highlight?

Small and bigger accomplishments, which provide support and motivation to carry on. One must not get discouraged when things do not turn out as expected, but take a defeat as an additional incentive to carry on, develop new ideas, and start other projects.

 

5. If you had not chosen this career path you would have become a...?

I wanted to become a radiologist in private practice. I did not imagine that I would one day be a Professor and Chair of a large University Department of Radiology.

 

6. Your leisure interests?

Skiing, sailing and the cultural life of Berlin.

 

7. Your favourite quote?

“At the crossroads of life there are no signposts” (Charlie Chaplin).