From 1993 until 2012 I served as head of the university heart center Cologne. My main scientific interests are pathophysiology and treatment options of heart failure as well as the role of diabetes in cardiovascular disease. I have served in the steering committees of several major international drug and device trials directed to improve cardiovascular diseases such as CIBIS I, II and III, CARE-HF, PROACTIVE, SERVE-HF (all of which have been published in NEJM or The Lancet). Until 2025 I was editor of the main German textbook of cardiology (Klinische Kardiologie) 2024 in the 9th edition. Together with Nikolaus Marx/Aachen University this German Textbook was published 2025 as Clinical Cardiology, 2nd edition by Springer-Nature. Furthermore I serve in the ethics committee of the medical faculty of the University of Cologne/Germany.
