Björn Dirk Krapohl (born 26 January 1965, Kettiwg, Germany) is a German surgeon, specializing in plastic surgery and

hand surgery Hand surgery deals with both surgical and non-surgical treatment of conditions and problems that may take place in the hand or upper extremity (commonly from the tip of the hand to the shoulder), American Society for Surgery of the Hand. Retriev ...

at the

University of Lübeck The University of Lübeck is a research university in Lübeck, Northern Germany which focuses almost entirely on medicine and sciences with applications in medicine. General The university has a Faculty of Medicine and a Faculty of Technology a ...

and the

Charité The Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Charité – Berlin University of Medicine; ) is Europe's List of hospitals by capacity, largest university hospital, affiliated with Humboldt University of Berlin, Humboldt University and the Free ...

in Berlin. He is known for his work in the fields of reconstructive microsurgery, hand surgery, and

breast surgery Breast surgery is a form of surgery performed on the breast. Types Types include: * Breast augmentation * Breast reduction * Breast-conserving surgery, a less radical cancer surgery than mastectomy * Lumpectomy * Mastectomy * Mastopexy, or brea ...

Biography

Krapohl studied human medicine at the universities of

Giessen Giessen, spelled in German (), is a town in the Germany, German States of Germany, state () of Hesse, capital of both the Giessen (district), district of Giessen and the Giessen (region), administrative region of Giessen. The population is appro ...

Aachen Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants. Aachen is locat ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, London (Canada), Toronto (Canada),

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

and

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

. In 1995 he was promoted to doctor of medicine at the University of Cologne and also finished the

United States Medical Licensing Examination The United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) is a three-step examination program for medical Professional licensure in the United States, licensure in the United States sponsored by the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) and the ...

(ECFMG licence),

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, U.S. He hold several positions until 2003 including medicine at

The Cleveland Clinic Foundation Cleveland Clinic is an American nonprofit academic medical center based in Cleveland, Ohio. Owned and operated by the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, an Ohio nonprofit corporation, Cleveland Clinic was founded in 1921 by a group of faculty and alu ...

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

U.S. and at the Section of Telerobotics, Jet Propulsion Laboratory,

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commerci ...

, U.S. He obtained his licensure for plastic surgery in 2003 and was

habilitated Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellen ...

in the discipline of plastic surgery at the University of Lübeck in the same year. He also obtained a

venia docendi A Doctor of Science (; most commonly abbreviated DSc or ScD) is a science doctorate awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. Africa Algeria and Morocco In Algeria, Morocco, Libya and Tunisia, all universities accredited by the s ...

at the University of Vienna. In 2005 he obtained an additional title for hand surgery. Krapohl was named head of the Department of Plastic Surgery and Hand Surgery at the Armed Forces Hospital (Bundwehrkrankenhaus) Berlin and consulting physician at the Center of Musculoskeletal Surgery at the Charité, University Medicine. He was named lecturer of the Charité at the Armed Forces Hospital Berlin and at the lecturer-association of the Charité in 2007. The University of Lübeck appointed Krapohl as associate professor in 2008. He was a guest lecturer at the Medical faculty of the Military Academy of Hanoi, Vietnam from 2010 to 2011 and a guest lecturer at the Medical High School of Tiflis in 2012. Krapohl was named head of the Section of Plastic Surgery at the Center of Musculoskeletal Surgery at the Charité, University Medicine, Berlin in 2014. In 2015 he became chief physician for plastic and aesthetic surgery, reconstructive microsurgery and hand surgery at the Marien-Hospital Berlin as well as consultant physician for reconstructive surgery and child surgery and also consultant surgery for breast reconstruction at the Charité. In 2018 he was recruited by the Carl-Thiem-Klinikum Cottbus (Germany) to establish Plastic Surgery at this hospital and to build up a Center for Reconstructive Surgery in affiliation with Department of Maxillofacial Surgery.

Scientific contribution

Since the beginning of his university career, Krapohl has focused on microsurgery of peripheral nerves and vessels. While working at the Cleveland Clinic Krapohl was involved in the development of animal models for transplantation of extremities and organs. Furthermore, he established animal models for microvascular thrombosis and thrombolysis. In 1997 the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory recruited Krapohl for the development of a prototype robot for microsurgical procedures in collaboration with the NASA engineers. Later on he continued his interest in microsurgery and especially in microsurgical replantation of extremities. When he began his work at the Military Hospital in Berlin he gradually focused on surgery of the breast. He proved that in military guards just the impact of the carbine to the chest while exercising can induce unilateral breast growth. Thereby he verified a new etiology of male gynecomastia due to mechanical stimulation. His findings were integrated into the guidelines of gynecomastia.AWMF-Leitlinien für die Gynäkomastie im Erwachsenenalter
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Academic memberships

* Since 2004: German society of plastic, reconstructive and aesthetic surgeons * Since 2004: Austrian society of hand surgery * Since 2008: German Society for Plastic and Reconstruction Surgery, head of section of aesthetic surgery

Honors and awards

* Price of the Ohio Valley Society for Plastic Surgeons, Indianapolis, USA (1997)

Publications

* * * * *

External links

* ttps://sites.google.com/site/plastischechirurgiecharite/ Charité Centrum für muskulo-skeletale Chirurgie: Plastische Chirurgie

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Krapohl, Bjorn Dirk German plastic surgeons 1965 births Living people