Human Reproduction 2011

Dr Wolfgang Holzgreve

University of Basel, Switzerland

Wolfgang Holzgreve was born and raised in Germany where he graduated from the Univerity of Münster Medical School, he also obtained a Master of Science degree from the University of California in Berkeley. He became a specialist in obstetrics and gynecology in Germany, did his postdoctoral fellowship in reproductive genetics at the University of California in San Francisco between 1982 and 1984 and became Assistant and Associate Professor at the University of Münster. In 1995 he was appointed as Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Univerity of Basel, Switzerland. From there he was recruited back to Germany to become the Medical Director and Chair of the Board of Directors of the University of Freiburg. Currently he is on a sabbatical at the Institute for Advanced Study in Berlin, where he is doing research on Maternal-/Child-Health in Low Income Countries. Prof. Holzgreve´s main research has been in the area of prenatal diagnosis and therapy where he has been a strong advocate of Person-centered Medicine. Besides his involvement in the development of invasive techniques, an emphasis in research and development over the last 20 years was Non-invasive Prenatal Diagnosis from maternal blood. His research resulted in more than 500 original papers, more than 10 books, Editorial Board memberships of 15 journals and a Hirsch-index of 41. He was Editor-in-chief of the Journal Fetal Diagnosis and Therapy for many years, and currently he is the Associate Editor of the International Journal of Gynaecology and Obstetrics. He received many awards including the Maternite award, the Liley medal etc, and received five honorary doctoral degrees. He was President of the German Societies of Reproductive Medicine and of Perinatal Medicine as well as President of the Swiss Society of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

He is currently the Treasurer of the European Board and College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (EBCOG) and one of the five Officers of the World Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics (FIGO). He is the FIGO representative to the WHO and UN in Geneva and has worked for WHO in many capacities.