Trauma researcher Professor Markus Huber-Lang is the new President of the International Federation of Shock Societies. The head of theInstitute for Clinical and Experimental Trauma Immunology at Ulm University Hospital took up the post at the association’s eleventh World Congress in Las Vegas (USA). He had already been elected in 2023 at the previous congress.
The International Federation of Shock Societies (IFSS) was founded in 1987 in Montreal, Canada. The non-profit organisation brings together the work of nine shock societies across four continents. Its aim is to conduct fundamental research into the life-threatening conditions of shock, trauma and sepsis, and to rapidly translate new findings into patient care. To this end, the IFSS organises international congresses in collaboration with its member societies and publishes its own official journal, ‘Shock’. It also drives forward international consensus initiatives, such as those on quality standards for sepsis research.
Huber-Lang’s election as President of the IFSS reinforces the high international regard in which Ulm’s trauma research is held. The Director of the Institute for Clinical and Experimental Trauma Immunology has clearly set out his goals for the presidency and aims to support early-career scientific researchers and reinforce global collaboration, particularly in times of geopolitical tension. “It is a great pleasure and honour for me to lead the IFSS in the coming years,” says Huber-Lang. “Severe injuries, shock and sepsis know no borders. That is why we need research that collaborates across continents and political divides. It is particularly important to me to involve young female scientists at an early stage and to offer them an international platform. They will shape the care of the critically injured in the future.”
Professor Markus Huber-Lang studied Medicine in Freiburg and the USA. After receiving an award of a doctoral degree, he undertook a research visit lasting several years at the University of Michigan (USA). He received training as a surgeon and trauma surgeon in Ulm and qualified to teach and supervise doctoral/PhD candidates in the subject of surgery in 2005. Since 2017, he has headed the Institute for Clinical and Experimental Trauma Immunology at Ulm University Hospital. Together with his team, Huber-Lang is researching how the body reacts to severe injuries and what complications arise as a result, such as sepsis and the dreaded multiple organ failure. To this end, promising initial therapeutic approaches are currently being pursued in Ulm.
From 2017 to 2019, Huber-Lang served as President of the European Shock Society and, at the same time, as Programme Director of the joint European and International Shock Congress held in Crete (Greece) in 2019. His term of office as President of the IFFS will come to an end with the 12th World Congress, which he will host in Europe in 2029.
Text and media contact: Daniela Stang