Prof.
Mathias Freund has been born in 1949 in northern Germany. He has
graduated in medicine at the Eberhard-Karls-University in Tuebingen,
Germany in 1974. He has obtained his physician's license,
doctorate and his licence as a specialist of Internal Medicine and
Hematology/Oncology at the same institution. His research activities in
Tuebingen have been focussed on disseminated intravascular coagulation
and shock lung, breast cancer, leukemias and non-Hodgkin's lymphomas.
1982 He moved
to the Department of Hematology and Oncology at
Hannover Medical School. Clinical activities concentrated there on
high-grade and low-grade malignant non-Hodgkin's lymphomas, on chronic
and acute leukemias. Besides chemotherapeutic approaches a special
interest was in the basic and clinical effects of cytokines. Prof.
Freund subsequently chaired the Laboratory of Experimental Hematology
there. Activities focussed on cell biologic aspects of the growth and
differentiation of acute and chronic leukemias and stem cell biology.
Clinical and basic developments have been documented in a series of
International Symposia on Cytokines in Hematology, Oncology and
Immunology in Hannover in 1989, 1991, and 1993. Prof. Freund has been
secretary of the annual meeting of the German Society of Hematology and
Oncology in Hannover 1989.
From 1994-2012 Prof.
Freund has been chairman of the Department of Hematology and
Oncology at Rostock University. The development of the department
concentrated on high-dose chemotherapy of hematopoietic neoplasias and
solid tumors, bone marrow and blood stem cell transplantation and
chronic GvHD. Furthermore the department was involved in stem cell
therapy
for myocardial and vascular regeneration. Prof.
Freund has
published 333 journal articles, 53 books, and 88 book chapters.
The following business
companies have been established by Prof. Freund:
- M.D.
Medical Development GmbH Rostock
- Seracell
Stammzelltechnologie GmbH (former Gesellschaft für
Stammzelltechnologie Rostock GmbH) and Seracell Pharma AG
Prof. Freund holds
resp. has held equities in these companies directly and indirectly
Prof.
Freund has been Secretary and Treasurer of the German Society of
Hematology and
Oncology (DGHO) 1996-2012, President of the Annual Meeting of the
German,
Austrian and
Swiss Societies of Hematology and Oncology in 2005, Executive Chairman
of the
DGHO 2013 - 2015 and President of the
Cancer Society of Mecklenburg-West Pommerania 1996 - 2013.
Since
2014 Prof. Freund is chairman of the board of trustees of the
German Foundation for Young Adults with Cancer.