Studied Medicine at the Universities of Hamburg and Boston (Harvard). MD thesis on the hepatic regulation of gluconeogenesis at the Institute of Physiologic Chemistry, University of Hamburg in 1992. Residency in the Dept. Endocrinology at Hannover Medical School and University of Hamburg in 1993 Followed his mentor Wolff Schmiegel, MD PhD from Hamburg to the University of Bochum shortly thereafter. Spent 2 years as a postdoctoral fellow with Johnson Lau, MD PhD at the University of Florida, USA. After returning to Bochum, Germany finished clinical training in the Dept. Medicine, University of Bochum. Attending physician in the Dept. Medicine and Gastroenterology-Hepatology from 2000 until 2006. As of January 2007 Chief of the Dept. of Medicine and Gastroenterology, Klinikum Vest GmbH - Paracelsusklinik Marl. Board certified internist, gastroenterologist and infectious disease specialist. United States Medical Examination (USMLE) certified.