Obituary for Professor Stefan Rosewicz: August 13, 1960—May 20, 2004

Abstract

Stefan Rosewicz, Professor of Medicine since 1999 at the Charité Medical School, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology, Berlin, died unexpectedly May 20, 2004, at age 43. Stefan Rosewicz was born in Mannheim, Germany, on August 13, 1960, and attended the Jesuit College at Blasien, Switzerland. He studied medicine at the University of Heidelberg, University of California at San Francisco, and Harvard Medical School. In 1985, he passed his medical exams, received his medical license and also finished his medical thesis with summa cum laude. In the same year, he began his 2-year residency at the Benjamin Franklin Medical Center, Berlin. From 1987 until 1989, he was a research fellow at the University of California at San Francisco and at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in the laboratory of Profs. J. Williams and C. Logsdon. Stefan Rosewicz returned thereafter to Berlin where he completed his residency in 1993 and his GI fellowship in 1997 in the Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology, headed by Prof. E.O. Riecken in Berlin. In 1999, he was appointed Full professor at the Charite Medical School, Division of Hepatology and Gastroenterology, Campus Virchow Klinikum. Stefan Rosewicz's death marks the loss of an outstanding clinician and scientist, devoted to both basic research, as well as clinical trials. His research was pivotal in the delineation of molecular alterations in pancreatic and hepatocellular carcinoma, with a main focus on cell cycle and angiogenesis. Based on the molecular alterations observed in these tumors, he translated and designed, in close cooperation with the biotechnological industry, clinical trials in order to improve the therapeutic outcome of patients with pancreatic and hepatocellular carcinoma. In this sense, he perfectly represented a “translational researcher” in our field. In recognition of his work, Stefan Rosewicz received several outstanding scientific prizes from European scientific societies such as the Paul-Martini Prize in 1995, the Thannhauser Prize in 1997, and the Werner Creuzfeldt Fellowship in 1998. Stefan Rosewicz was recognized by his colleagues as a bright, energetic, hard-working, and amiable partner and colleague. His patients knew him as a thoughtful and understanding doctor. His students loved him for his enthusiastic and passionate way, conveying strong interest for their profession, as well as for extending research beyond the clinical routine. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him and worked with him. Professor Bertram Wiedenmann Charité Medical School Humboldt University Berlin, Germany