Priv.-Doz. Dr. med Manfred Hecking, PhD studied music and medicine in Berlin where he also started working in basic research, on 7D cadherins, with Reinhard Gessler. Manfred initially came to Vienna as a professional musician - he was a full member of the Munich and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestras from 1999 through 2001 and 2001 through 2006, respectively. Maria Sibilia and Marcus Säemann enabled Manfred's transition from music to medicine/science. Maria allowed Manfred to enrol into her PhD programe, work on the EGF receptor in bone metabolism, and obtain basic skills in molecular biology at her lab. Marcus Säemann, who is now the chief of Nephrology at Klinik Ottakring, was at that time group leader of an important translational research group at the Medical University of Vienna's Nephrology Department. Marcus accepted Manfred into his research group and gave him important projects, such as to study whether post-transplant diabetes mellitus (PTDM) could be prevented by treating early postoperative hyperglycemia with exogenous insulin. Other than from Maria and Marcus, Manfred recived important research input and inspiration from Friedrich K. Port of Arbor Research Collaborative for Health and the University of Michigan, where Manfred frequently traveled as a visiting scholar. Manfred, by now is an internist with additional degrees in nephrology and intensive care medicine. Clinically, his training was mainly at MUV, but an important collaboration exists with Klinik Favoriten (Sabine Schmaldienst), where Manfred spent one year after his examination in internal medicine to improve his clinical skills. Besides PTDM, the main focus of Manfred's research group is on kidney replacement therapy by hemodialysis, and fluid management in particular. Hot topics, old and new, include sodium in dialysis, bioimpedance spectroscopy (work with Peter Wabel) and blood volume monitoring (work with Daniel Schneditz and Leszek Pstras), and what can be learned from these topics for intravenous fluid therapy in the intensive care unit. Eversince 2013, Manfred has also been dealing with gender-specific differences at the transition from predialysis to kidney replacement therapy. For example, Manfred and team (Sebastian Hödlmoser, Martina Sattler, others), together with Juan Jesus Carrero's group and the CKDopps scholars at Arbor Research (Roberto Pecoits-Filho, others) are searching for answers to the question why fewer women than men are dialyzing worldwide. Additional projects include the renin-angiotensin aldosterone system in COVID-19 patients, which includes an important collaboration with Marko Poglitsch, Oliver Domenig (Attoquant) and Roman Reindl-Schwaighofer. Aiming to develop qualitative research skills, Manfred and his group members have recently started working with Tanja Stamm, Allison Tong and Ulrich Kropiunigg. Manfred is grateful to his great mentors and collaborators, which includes excellent support he has received from the three Nephrology chiefs at MUV, Walter Hörl, Wilfred Druml and Rainer Oberbauer.
Manfred Hecking
Medizinische Universität Wien
Universitätsklinik für Innere Medizin III
Klinische Abt. für Nephrologie und Dialyse
Währinger Gürtel 18-20
1090 Wien
T: +43 (0)1 40400-43905
F: +43 (0)1 40400-43920
manfred.hecking@meduniwien.ac.at