Lukas Radbruch, Professor
Chair of Palliative Medicine, University of Bonn
Director of Department of Palliative Medicine, University Hospital Bonn
Director of Palliative Care Centre, Malteser Hospital Bonn/Rhein-Sieg
Mentor, International Palliative Care Leadership Development Initiative
Lukas Radbruch holds the Chair of Palliative Medicine at the RWTH University of Aachen and is founding Director of the Department of Palliative Medicine at University Hospital, Aachen. He holds this position since 2003, when the unit had been set up. He is president of the European Association for Palliative Care (EAPC) since 2007 and has been a member of the Steering Committee of the Research Network of EAPC since 1996. He also is a board member of the Worldwide Palliative Care Alliance (WPCA) since 2007, and has been treasurer of the German Association for the Study of Pain (DGSS) from 1997 to 2002. He has been editor of ‘Der Schmerz’ since 2004, a member of the Drug Commission of the German Medical Board since 2004, and a member of the Expert Commission of the German Narcotic Control Agency since 2004. He has chaired the working group on research of the German Association for Palliative Medicine from 1999 to 2006.
Dr. Radbruch has attended medical school in Bonn, graduating in 1985. He then studied general medicine at St Elisabeth Hospital in Gerolstein and subsequently completed accredited specialist training in anaesthetics. He worked as a research fellow and clinician in the pain clinic of the University of Cologne and chaired the pain clinic from 1995 to 2003, when he changed to the current position in Aachen. He has finished his Habilitation (the German equivalent of a PhD) in 2000, as the first thesis in anaesthesiology and palliative care in Germany. He has published extensively, with his main research interests are symptom assessment, opioid treatment, fatigue, cachexie and ethical issues in palliative care. He is leading a workpackage in the European Palliative Care Research Collaborative (EPCRC) and coordinates the project Access To Opioid Medication in Europe (ATOME) which is funded by the 7th Framework of the European Commission. He is married, with two children, three Islandic horses and a dog.