Meet our affiliated Clinical Scientists, a first-class research and development team working to develop advanced methods tailored to each of our speciality sectors.
Clinical Scientists
Univ.-Prof.in Dr.in habil. Monika Csóka
PROFESSOR | ONCOLOGY & HEMATOLOGY AT DPU
Monika Csóka completed her medical studies at Semmelweis University in Budapest in 1992 followed by a DAAD scholarship in Heidelberg for two years. She was clinically involved at the oncology ward of the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Heidelberg and researched the potential use of bispecific antibodies in paediatric acute lymphoblastic leukaemia at the German Cancer Research Center, completing her PhD in 2002.
From 1993, she worked at the Second Department of Paediatrics at Semmelweis University as Head of the Paediatric Oncology ward and Deputy Head of the department, specialising in paediatrics, clinical oncology, haematology and paediatric haemato-oncology. Her scientific interest turned to paediatric lymphomas and solid tumours, with a focus on analysing the mTOR and ALK pathways and tumour metabolism. Her clinical and scientific working group introduced novel therapies for paediatric cancer patients as part of national and international collaborations. She did her postdoctoral lecture qualification in the field of novel therapies in paediatric oncology in 2020. Since the beginning of her career she has played an active role in the education of medical students in Hungarian, German and English languages. She has taught paediatrics for dentistry students at the DPU since 2019 and was appointed Professor of Oncology and Haematology by the DPU in 2022.
PROFESSOR | ONCOLOGY & HEMATOLOGY AT DPU
Univ.-Prof.in PD Dr.in med. Katharina Kubista
PROFESSOR | OPTHTHALMOLOGY AT DPU
Katharina Kubista studied medicine at the Medical University of Vienna until 2001. She completed her residency in ophthalmology at the Department of Ophthalmology at the Clinic Landstraße (formerly the Rudolfstiftung) in Vienna in 2009, where she remained as a consultant until 2020. Thereafter, she spent another six months at the Department of Ophthalmology at the Hanusch Hospital in Vienna until she decided to go into private practice.
Katharina Kubista lectured at the Medical University of Vienna from 2006 onwards and spent one year at the Department of Ophthalmology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, from 2008 until 2009. In 2011, she became Associate Professor in Ophthalmology at the Medical University of Vienna and was recognised in 2018 a generally and juridically certified expert in ophthalmology. She was appointed Professor of Ophthalmology by the DPU in 2022.
PROFESSOR | OPTHTHALMOLOGY AT DPU
Univ.-Prof. PD Joachim Kettenbach, MD
PROFESSOR | RADIOLOGY AT DPU
Joachim Kettenbach received his medical degree in 1985 from the University of Graz. Having received his licence as a general practitioner in 1989, he completed his training as radiologist in 1996 at the Department of Radiology, Medical University of Vienna. Following a two-year research fellowship at the Surgical Planning Lab, Brigham & Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA, he worked as a senior radiologist in the Interventional Radiology Department at the General Hospital, Medical University of Vienna, where he specialised in MR-guided oncological and vascular interventions. In 2005 he became Associate Professor of Radiology. In 2008–2009 he was Head of the Radiology Department in Oberpullendorf, Austria. Between 2009–2013 he was Chief Physician, Deputy Director and Associate Professor of Interventional Radiology at the Department of Diagnostic, Interventional and Paediatric Radiology, University Hospital of Bern, Switzerland. Thereafter he worked as senior radiologist at the Institute of Medical Radiology, Diagnostics and Intervention at the University Hospital in St Poelten, Austria, until 2017. Since 2018 he has been Director of the Institute of Diagnostics, Interventional Radiology and Nuclear Medicine at the Landesklinikum Wiener Neustadt, Austria. He was appointed Professor of Radiology by the DPU in 2022.
PROFESSOR | RADIOLOGY AT DPU
Univ.-Prof. PD Dr. med. Dennis Ladage
PROFESSOR | PNEUMOLOGY AT DPU
Dennis Ladage received his medical degree from the University of Cologne Medical School in 2006, and his PhD in sport science in 2013 from the German Sports University in Cologne. He holds an additional Master’s degree in health economics from the Economics Department at the University of Cologne. In 2008, during a three-year research fellowship at the at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, USA, he was appointed Associate Director of the Large Animal Research Lab. After board certifications in internal medicine and subspecialties (cardiology, pneumology, intensive care, emergency medicine), he served until 2020 as senior attending physician at the University Hospital of Cologne. In 2020, he was appointed Director of the Pneumology Department at Kliniken Maria Hilf in Moenchengladbach.
In addition to his faculty position at the University of Cologne, he joined the faculty of the DPU as full professor. He is pursuing his strong research focus in large and small animal models of heart disease, with a current focus on aspects of parodontitis and heart disease. He has received grants from the German Research Foundation and the German Heart Foundation and has published more than 50 original research articles.
PROFESSOR | PNEUMOLOGY AT DPU
Univ.-Prof. PD Dr. med. Dr. h.c. mult. Jens Rassweiler FRCS (Glasgow)
PROFESSOR | UROLOGY AT DPU
Jens Rassweiler studied urology at Katharinenhospital Stuttgart in 1982. From 1988 to 1994 he was Vice-Chair of the Department of Urology at Mannheim Medical School, where he was involved in the clinical introduction of extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy, including three generations of lithotripters. In 1992 he became the first German urologist to perform a laparoscopic nephrectomy. He became Chairman of the Department of Urology and Paediatric Urology at SLK Kliniken Heilbronn, University of Heidelberg, in 1994. He organized the 2009 World Congress of Endourology. Since 2010 he has been President of the German Lithotripsy Society, and since 2016 Chairman of the Section Office of the European Association of Urology (EAU). He became president of the Endourology Society in 2019. In that same year, he organized the general meeting of the International Society of Minimally invasive Therapy (iSMIT). In 2020 he became president of the German Society of Urology (DGU). He has received several awards, including the Hans Marberger Award from the EAU, the Felix Martin Oberländer Award, the Ritter von Frisch-Award from the DGU (2014), the Ralph Clayman Mentor Award of the Endourology Society (2015), and the Gustav Simon Medal of the SWDGU (2016). He is an honorary member of several urological societies worldwide. He is Doctor honoris causa of the universities of Timisoara (2009), Cluj-Napoca (2013) and Bucharest (2017). In 2018 he became a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in Glasgow (FRCS). He was appointed Professor of Urology by the DPU in 2022.
PROFESSOR | UROLOGY AT DPU
Univ.-Prof. PD Dr. med. Igor Vujic
PROFESSOR | DERMATOLOGY AT DPU
Igor Vujic was born in Croatia but grew up in the beautiful Carinthia region of Austria.
Following his graduation from the Medical University of Vienna (MUW) in 2006, he worked as a doctor in the UK. After becoming a general practitioner in 2012 he worked in and around Vienna, where he soon realised that dermatology was his true calling.
During his dermatology residency, with the encouragement of his boss, Professor Rappersberger, he spent two years at the UCSF in San Francisco (USA), one of the best medical universities in the world, mainly conducting research on melanoma.
Back in Vienna, he received his postdoctoral lecture qualification in 2020 (MUW) and currently works at the Klinik Landstraße in Vienna. His special interests are dermatohistopathology, melanoma, psoriasis and atopic dermatitis.
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He was appointed Professor of Dermatology by the DPU in 2022.
RESEARCHER
Univ.-Prof. PD Dr. med. Martin Werner
PROFESSOR | ANGIOLOGY AT DPU
Martin Werner did his medical training at the Medical University of Vienna in 2004. After postdoctoral studies in medical sciences, he worked at the Department of Angiology at Park Hospital in Leipzig, where he specialized in the interventional treatment of vascular disorders.
Since 2019, Martin Werner has been Head of Angiology at Hanusch Krankenhaus in Vienna. He is the author and co-author of several highly ranked peer-reviewed publications and is regularly invited to speak at international conferences in the field of vascular medicine.
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He was appointed Professor of Angiology by the DPU in 2022.
PROFESSOR | ANGIOLOGY AT DPU
Univ.-Prof. PD Dr. med. Dr. habil Christian Wetterauer
PROFESSOR | UROLOGY AT DPU
Christian Wetterauer completed his medical studies at Albert Ludwig University in Freiburg, Germany and his speciality training in urology at the university hospitals of Zurich and Basel, followed by a research fellowship at the Institut Pasteur in Paris, France.
He currently works as Chief Physician in urology at University Hospital Basel. His research focuses on minimally invasive and robotic-assisted endourologic procedures, and on digital health solutions, including AI-based decision support tools.
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He was appointed Professor of Urology by the DPU in 2022.
PROFESSOR | UROLOGY AT DPU
Univ.-Prof. Prof. PD Dr. med. Ulrich Wetterauer
PROFESSOR | UROLOGY & ANDROLOGY AT DPU
After his medical studies in Tübingen and Freiburg, Ulrich Wetterauer underwent training in surgery and urology at the University of Freiburg. Basic work on biochemical analysis of seminal fluid led to a postdoctoral lecture qualification, followed by a research stay at the UCSF in San Francisco, USA, in 1988. In 2001, he got the position as Medical Director of the Urology Department at Freiburg University Hospital.
Over the following years he established two professorships for epigenetic research for cancer treatment in his department. Since 2019, following his retirement in Freiburg, he has held a position as a senior consultant at Basel University Hospital.
He was appointed Professor of Urology and Andrology by the DPU in 2022.
PROFESSOR | UROLOGY & ANDROLOGY AT DPU
Univ.-Prof. PD Dr. med. Peter Widschwendter
PROFESSOR | GYNECOLOGY AT DPU
Peter Widschwendter graduated from the Medical University of Innsbruck in 2007 and began his training as a specialist in gynaecology and obstetrics in Munich, before completing his training at Tübingen University Hospital in 2012.
Due to his expertise in minimally invasive and robotic surgery, Peter Widschwendter was recruited to the University Women's Hospital in Ulm, where he received his postdoctoral lecture qualification in 2020.
His scientific focus is the diagnosis and therapy of endometriosis and gynaeco-oncological diseases. As chief physician for gynaecology and obstetrics at the Landeskrankenhaus Hall in Tirol, he also supports studies at the EUTOPS (European Translational Oncology Prevention and Screening) Institute for the prevention and early detection of gynaecological tumours.
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He was appointed Professor of Gynaecology by the DPU in 2022.
PROFESSOR | GYNECOLOGY AT DPU
