A great loss to the lymphoma community: Michael Pfreundschuh dies aged 68

It was announced in SR.de news online that Professor Dr. Michael Pfreundschuh died on 5 March 2018 at the age of 68. He was established as one of the leading worldwide experts in the field of lymphoma.

Michael Pfreundschuh gained his medical degree at Heidelberg University in 1975. He then undertook a clinical fellowship at the Memorial Hospital and a research fellow at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York between 1976 and 1978. He completed his training in internal medicine and oncology/hematology at Heidelberg University and Hannover Medical School where he became a faculty member (assistant professor) in 1984. He moved to Cologne University where he was then appointed as associate professor. In 1991, Michael Pfreundschuh was elected as Director of the Department of Internal Medicine and appointed as Professor of Internal Medicine at Saarland University Medical School. He was also a founding member and chairman of the German High Grade Non-Hodgkin-Lymphoma Study Group (DSHNHL) and became a Founding Member of the Academy of Cancer Immunology in 1998.

Michael Pfreundschuh received the William-B. Coley Award for Distinguished Research in Basic and Tumor Immunology in 2000, and the Warner Award for Cancer Research in 2004. In 2016, Prof. Dr. Pfreundshuh was awarded a Federal Cross of Merit from Minister President of Saarland, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, in recognition for his outstanding contribution to medical research.