Thorsten Walles (born 28 June 1972 in
Lingen
Lingen (), officially Lingen (Ems), is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. In 2008, its population was 52,353, and in addition there were about 5,000 people who registered the city as their secondary residence. Lingen, specifically "Lingen (Ems)" is ...
) is a German
general thoracic surgeon and
professor
Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...
at the
University Hospital of Würzburg. He is known for his works in the field of trachea surgery and his research for early diagnosis of
lung cancer
Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, malign ...
.
Biography
Walles studied medicine at the
Hannover Medical School
The Hannover Medical SchoolAlthough the English spelling of the city name is "Hanover", this form of the name, using the German spelling of the city name, is used as the English-language name of the school, for example . (german: Medizinische Ho ...
from 1993 to 2000. During his dissertation he spent a research fellowship at the
Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...
from 1997 to 1998. He earned his doctorate at the Hannover Medical School in 2000 summa cum laude. Walles completed his specialist training in thoracic surgery at various established thoracic surgery units in 2008 and is recognized as ''Fellow of the European Board of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgeons''. He was visiting scientist at the Fraunhofer-Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology in
Stuttgart from 2005 to 2012. He received the
habilitation at the
University of Tübingen
The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Wà ...
in 2009. In 2010 he became senior physician at the Clinic Schillerhöhe (Stuttgart). He was appointed professor for thoracic surgery at the medical faculty of the
University of Würzburg
The Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg (also referred to as the University of Würzburg, in German ''Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg'') is a public research university in Würzburg, Germany. The University of Würzburg is one of ...
in 2012, where he is heading the section of Thoracic Surgery since 2012.
[Prof. Dr. med. Thorsten Walles verstärkt Universitätsklinikum Würzburg und Comprehensive Cancer Center Mainfranken](_blank)
Universitätsklinikum]
Walles is married to the biologist
Heike Walles.
Scientific contributions
Walles works on
regenerative medicine
Regenerative medicine deals with the "process of replacing, engineering or regenerating human or animal cells, tissues or organs to restore or establish normal function". This field holds the promise of engineering damaged tissues and organs by st ...
and
tissue engineering
Tissue engineering is a biomedical engineering discipline that uses a combination of cells, engineering, materials methods, and suitable biochemical and physicochemical factors to restore, maintain, improve, or replace different types of biolog ...
research.
[Walles T, Gorler H, Puschmann C, Mertsching H. Functional neointima characterization of vascular prostheses in human. Ann Thorac Surg. 2004; 77: 864-8] Being a thoracic surgeon, he focused on the generation of bioartificial airway tissues for tracheo-bronchial replacement.
[Walles T, Giere B, Hofmann M, Schanz J, Hofmann F, Mertsching H, Macchiarini P. Experimental generation of a tissue-engineered functional and vascularized trachea. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2004; 128: 900-6][Walles T. Tracheobronchial bio-engineering: biotechnology fulfilling unmet medical needs. Adv Drug Deliv Rev. 2011; 63: 367-74] His work resulted in the first clinical applications of
bioartificial tissues for airway reconstruction.
[ Macchiarini P, Walles T, Biancosino C, Mertsching H. First human transplantation of a bioengineered airway tissue. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2004; 128: 638-41] In their follow-up of these first transplanted patients Walles and his coworkers demonstrated a post-transplant
tissue maturation
Developmental biology is the study of the process by which animals and plants grow and develop. Developmental biology also encompasses the biology of regeneration, asexual reproduction, metamorphosis, and the growth and differentiation of stem c ...
process of the bioartificial tissues.
[Walles T, Biancosino C, Zardo P, Macchiarini P, Gottlieb J, Mertsching H. Tissue remodelling in a bioartificial fibromuscular patch following transplantation in a human. Transplantation. 2005; 80: 284-5][Steinke M, Dally I, Friedel G, Walles H, Walles T. Host-integration of a tissue-engineered airway patch: 2-year follow-up in a single patient. Tissue Eng Part A. 2015; 21: 573-9] Pioneering the translation of bioartificial human tissues into clinical applications, he dealt with the legal framework for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine in Germany and Europe.
[Mertsching H, Walles T. Europe's advanced therapy medicinal products: Chances and challenges. Exp Rev Med Dev. 2009; 6: 109-10][Altmayer MM, Walles T. Bioartifizielle Transplantate in der rekonstruktiven Chirurgie: Translation und ökonomische Vorteile in der Krankenversorgung. Regenerat Med. 2009; 1: 23-25][Brucklacher U, Walles T. Das neue Gewebegesetz und seine Bedeutung für chirurgische Therapie und Forschung. CHAZ 2010 ; 11 : 561-5][Brucklacher U, Walles T. Nationale und europäische Rahmenbedingungen für Tissue Engineering. Pharma Recht 2010 ; 32 : 581-5][Hampel M, Dally I, Walles T, Steger V, Veit S, Kyriss T, Friedel G. Impact of neo-adjuvant radiochemotherapy on bronchial tissue viability. Eur J Cardiothorac Surg. 2010; 37: 461-6] As a specialist in
lung cancer
Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, malign ...
treatment Walles could also demonstrate that lung cancer can be detected in the patients' breath. The objective of his ongoing research is the development of technical devices for
lung cancer screening
Lung cancer screening refers to cancer screening strategies used to identify early lung cancers before they cause symptoms, at a point where they are more likely to be curable. Lung cancer screening is critically important because of the inciden ...
.
Honors and awards
* 1998 Scholarship of the Carl Duisberg Foundation and of German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) for the Biomedical Exchange Program
* 2002 Young Investigator Award of the World Heart Federation
* 2003 Young Researcher Award of the European Society of Artificial Organs (ESAO)
* 2003 Young Investigator Award of the European Association for Cardio- Thoracic Surgery (EACTS)
* 2010 Von-Langenbeck Award of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Chirurgie (DGCH)
Ausgezeichnetes Tissue-Engineering-Verfahren für die regenerative Medizin
Fraunhofer-Institut für Grenzflächen- und Bioverfahrenstechnik IGB (1.5.2010)
See also
* Artificial trachea
* Biomedical engineering
Biomedical engineering (BME) or medical engineering is the application of engineering principles and design concepts to medicine and biology for healthcare purposes (e.g., diagnostic or therapeutic). BME is also traditionally logical sciences ...
References
External links
Thorsten Walles at CTSNet
Medical press Juli 3, 2012
How man's best friend detects health problems
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walles, Thorsten
1972 births
Living people
German thoracic surgeons