Prof. Dr. Dirk Westermann and Prof. Dr. Martin Czerny are strengthening the interdisciplinary cooperation at the University Heart Center.

As of August 1, 2022, the Department University Heart Center at the Medical Center - University of Freiburg has two new medical directors. Prof. Dr. Dirk Westermann has taken over the management of the Department of Cardiology and Angiology. Prof. Dr. Martin Czerny is now Medical Director of the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery. In addition, the Departments I and II of Cardiology and Angiology have been merged.

The two new Medical Directors want to strengthen interdisciplinary cooperation at the University Heart Center even more. An interdisciplinary unit for the diagnosis and treatment of patients with heart valve diseases is planned for example, as is a Heart Failure Unit, in which patients with advanced cardiac insufficiency are to receive optimal care. The internationally recognized departments of rhythmology and angiology will also be given a more interdisciplinary structure, which will allow for even better therapies to be offered.

Prof. Dr. Dirk Westermann is the Medical Director of the Department of Cardiology and Angiology at the Medical Center - University of Freiburg. Furthermore, the previously two Departments of Cardiology and Angiology have been merged. Westermann thus succeeds Prof. Dr. Christoph Bode and Prof. Dr. Franz-Josef Neumann. After his habilitation at Charité Berlin, he moved on to the University Heart & Vascular Center Hamburg in 2013 as a senior physician, where he was medical director of the cardiac catheterization laboratory and, from 2016, also deputy medical director of the Department of Cardiology.

His clinical focus lies on the treatment of coronary heart disease such as myocardial infarction and valvular heart disease. One focal point of his research are innovative treatment approaches for "cardiogenic shock," in which the heart suddenly loses pumping capacity. Westermann is also engaged in the early diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases using suitable metabolic products.

Prof. Dr. Martin Czerny became Medical Director of the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery at the Medical Center - University of Freiburg University Hospital, thus succeeding Prof. Dr. Friedhelm Beyersdorf. From 2015, Czerny had already served as section head for open and endovascular vascular surgery at the University Heart Center. In 2020, he was appointed to a Heisenberg Professorship for conventional and interventional aortic surgery at the University of Freiburg.

Czerny's clinical focus includes interventions on the aorta and coronary arteries, as well as the insertion of heart valves. Heart transplants and the treatment of complex inflammations of the heart are also part of his field of expertise. His research focus includes the development of new forms of treatment for diseases of the aorta.