Friedhelm Beyersdorf, MD

Friedhelm Beyersdorf, MD, received his medical degree at Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, in 1981. His work was driven by a research stay at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he worked with Gerald Buckberg, MD, on crucial work on blood cardioplegia of the heart, which is now the standard cardioplegia at most cardiac surgery centers. He is a full professor of cardiovascular surgery at the Clinical Centre of Albert-Ludwigs-University in Freiburg, Germany. A member of the Council of the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (EACTS) since 2002, he served as Editor-in-Chief from 2010 to 2020 and, from 2009 to 2011, was President of the German Society for Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. In 2013, he was appointed “membre correspondant étranger” for France’s Academy of Medicine. In 2000, he was awarded the title of Professor honoris causa by the University of Marília in Brazil and in 2008, he was awarded an honorary doctorate (Dr. h. c.) by the National University of Laos in Vientiane. Beyersdorf holds more than 700 publications and patents.