Prof. Jakob Izbicki is a general, visceral, and thoracic surgeon from Hamburg, Germany. Professor Izbicki has been chairman, department of general, visceral, and thoracic surgery, University of Hamburg, since 1998. He has been a prolific author, having contributed more than 540 important scientific manuscripts to the peer-reviewed literature. His important research has been broad within all fields of surgical oncology; hepatic, pancreatic, biliary, and transplantation surgery; colorectal and visceral surgery; thoracic surgery; and esophageal surgery. He is a leading authority in pancreatic surgery and has been recognized for this expertise throughout the world.
Professor Izbicki is a diligent researcher, an astute clinician, a superlative academician, and a renowned educator. His capabilities have been recognized by his leadership roles in 13 professional societies, including past-president of the prestigious European Surgical Association. Further testimony to his broad knowledge is the fact that he is a regular reviewer for 27 scientific journals and a member of the editorial boards of an additional 12 journals.
The vast majority of Professor Izbicki’s more than 540 publications are in high-impact factor journals, including Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Gut, Pancreas, Annals of Surgery, Journal of Clinical Oncology, New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of the American Medical Association, Hepatogastroenterology, Annals of Thoracic Surgery, Oncology, and British Journal of Surgery. He has mentored countless surgeons from around the world, both at his home institution in Hamburg and while traveling the globe imparting his knowledge.
Professor Izbicki holds 18 academic and honorary appointments, including honorary fellowship in the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. He is recognized by all of his peers as an innovator and consensus builder.
In addition to all of his many academic accolades and very well-deserved recognition awards by his peers, Jakob is exceptionally proud of his heritage. He is the son of Polish Holocaust survivors. His father was incarcerated in the Auschwitz concentration camp at the age of 13 and liberated by the Allied forces at the age of 17. His mother had been hidden by a family in Czechoslovakia until the end of the war. Born in Poland, his parents moved to Germany, where he was raised as a proud German citizen. In 1994, at the age of 38, Jakob is proud of the fact that he became the first Jewish professor and chair of a department of surgery in Germany since the 1930s. His unique heritage has made him an incredibly compassionate, caring, and empathetic surgeon.
