Peter Hohenberger, MD, is Head of the Division of Surgical Oncology and Thoracic Surgery at the Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg (UMM). He is a board-certified surgeon in visceral and vascular surgery as well as in thoracic surgery and surgical intensive care. Prof Hohenberger received his professional education at the University of Erlangen including training in psychology and pathology. Surgical qualifications were received at the University of Heidelberg where he also achieved the senior position at the Department of Surgery followed by a Professorship on Surgical Oncology at Charité, Berlin. Further to his specialization in the treatment of sarcoma and GIST, he was Chairman of the EORTC Soft Tissue and Bone Sarcoma Group. He has been collaborating with EORTC (GI, melanoma and STBSG) since the 1980s and was member of both the PRC and the Board for nine years. He served on the faculty of the AACR/ASCO/FECS/ESMO course on Methods of Clinical Cancer Research for seven years and is member to the advisory board of SPAEN (Sarcoma Patients Euronet), Das LEBENSHAUS and SOS-DESMOID. Prof Hohenberger chairs the German Interdisciplinary Sarcoma Group (GISG) and the Interdisciplinary Working Party on Sarcoma (IAWS) of the German Cancer Society (DKG) as well as the Certification Committee for Sarcoma Centres.

The Mannheim sarcoma centre is a major contributor to multinational randomized studies on the treatment of GIST and sarcoma, hosts the Data Centre of GISG and was co-founder of the German Sarcoma Conference. UMM is part of EURACAN for four domains and leads the transversal task force (TTF) on guidelines as well as a working package in the Joint Action on Rare Cancer (JARC). Trial activities also include EU-funded EUROSARC and MITIGATE pursuing the treatment of imatinib-resistant GIST.