Who is Markus W. Büchler?

Markus Wolfgang Büchler (born on July 22, 1955 in Saarlouis) is a German surgeon and University Professor. Markus W. Büchler graduated from the Heimschule Lender in Sasbach in 1974.

He did his medical school at the Ruprecht Karls University of Heidelberg (1974–1979) and the Free University of Berlin (1979–1980), where he received his license to practice medicine.

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In 1980, he received his M.D. in Heidelberg. Markus W. Büchler started his surgical training at the Free University of Berlin and later continued at the University of Ulm, where he received his PhD ( Habilitation ) in 1987. He became deputy hospital director in Ulm in 1991 and received a C2 professorship. In 1993, at 38 years of age, he became chair at the Department of Visceral and Transplant Surgery at the Inselspital of the University of Bern. In June 2000, he received an offer to become the Chair of General and Visceral Surgery in Ulm, which he declined.

He returned to Germany in 2001 and became the Chair of Surgery at the Heidelberg University hospital (until March 2023). He has simultaneously been the Chief of Surgery at four other hospitals: Salem Hospital in Heidelberg (since 2005), GRN Hospital Sinsheim (since 2009), GRN Hospital Eberbach (since 2012), and Bergstrasse District Hospital Heppenheim (since 2013). He has also been the director of the European Pancreas Center, which was the largest Pancreatic Cancer Center in the western world.

Professor Büchler is an internationally respected expert in the field of surgery, especially pancreatic surgery, and is one of the most experienced pancreatic surgeons in Europe. So far, he has performed around 3,000 pancreatic surgeries by himself. He is also one of the most experienced oncological surgeons.

Professor Büchler is an honorary member of more than 30 international surgical societies. Among others, he has been President of the German Surgical Society, the European Pancreas Club, and the International Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association. He is a member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina and an honorary member of the American Surgical Association, the American College of Surgeons and the Royal Colleges of Surgeons of England and Scotland, among others. He has been editor-in-chief of Langenbeck’s Archives of Surgery since 2010. Professor Büchler is on the editorial board of many scientific journals and has received multiple awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award of the European Pancreatic Club in 2016, the Living Legend Status of the International Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association in 2020, and the Award of the German Cancer Society in 2021.

Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Markus W. Büchler has also received seven honorary professor titles and seven honorary doctor titles from different universities worldwide. In 2022, Professor Büchler was ranked first of the top 1,000 most cited scientists in the field of medical research from Germany.

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What are Markus W. Büchler’s achievements?

As a surgeon, Professor Büchler has developed numerous modern methods in pancreatic surgery, surgical oncology, minimally invasive surgery, vascular surgery, organ preserving surgery, and radical cancer surgery.

As a clinician scientist, he has co-authored more than 2,000 publications focusing on the molecular basis of gastrointestinal cancers and pancreatic diseases and other clinical surgery issues. His research focuses on translational medicine, oncological surgery, and the development of new surgical techniques. During his work as full professor and chair of surgery for 30 years in Bern and Heidelberg, Professor Büchler has led around 100 surgeons to the position of professor of surgery or chief surgeon.

Professor Büchler has received, among others, the prestigious Ludwig Rehn Prize (1987), the Prize of the International Association of Pancreatology (1988 and 1990), the Research Prize of the Swiss Society of Surgery (1995), the Fritz Linder Prize of the German Society of Surgery (1999), the Max Siurala Prize of the Finnish Society of Gastroenterology (2005), the Gimbernat Prize of the Catalan Society of Surgery (2005), the Hippocrates Prize of the Hellenic Society of Internal Medicine (2006), the Amundsen Medal of the Institute for Surgical Research Oslo (2013), the Rudolf Zenker Prize of the German Society of Surgery (2014), the Karl Heinrich Bauer Prize of the German Society of Surgery (2018), and the German Cancer Prize (2021).

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In 2016, he was appointed a senator for life of the German Society of Surgery and received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the European Pancreatic Club. He is an honorary member of numerous professional societies, including the Royal Society of Medicine of England since 1998, the Royal College of Surgeons of England since 2009, the American Surgical Association since 2010, and the American College of Surgeons since 2013. In 2009, he was elected to the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. He has received honorary doctorates from universities in Cluj-Napoca, Arad (Romania), Belgrade, and Minsk, from Vilnius University, Nanjing Medical University, and Pécs University and honorary professorships at Railway Medical College, Southeast University, and Medical University in Nanjing, as well as in Wuhan, Montevideo, and Prague.

What does Markus W. Büchler do?

Professor Büchler operates 2–3 patients with pancreatic cancer and other malignancies every day, totaling 600–800 surgeries per year.

He has operated many patients deemed “inoperable” by other centers – patients whose cancer had been deemed untreatable with surgery.

These patients come from all over the world. Professor Büchler is currently leading the “Botton-Champalimaud Pancreatic Cancer Centre” in Lisbon, Portugal.

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What are Markus W. Büchler’s fields of interest?

Professor Büchler’s surgical and research fields of interest include:

  • Modern operative techniques
  • Individualized patient-specific surgery
  • Minimally invasive and robot-assisted surgery
  • Clinical studies
  • Molecular biology of cancer
  • Translational research
  • Management in surgery
  • Artificial intelligence in surgery

Where can I find Prof. Dr. Dr. Büchler?

On April 1 2023, Prof. Dr. Dr. Büchler started his work as the Director of the “Botton-Champalimaud Pancreatic Cancer Centre” in Lisbon, Portugal.

Botton-ChampalimaudPancreatic Cancer Centre

Av. Brasília,
1400-038 Lisboa, Portugal.