Outstanding scientist, doctor with a warm heart

The Society of German Natural Scientists and Physicians (GDNÄ) mourns the loss of its long-standing member Professor Michael P. Manns. The internationally renowned gastroenterologist was 73 years old.

‘He lived wholeheartedly for his patients and his colleagues,’ reads an obituary published by the Hannover Medical School (MHH) on the death of its former president, Professor Michael P. Manns. According to the university, the renowned liver disease specialist succumbed to cancer in mid-August. Although ravaged by the disease, he continued to work at the MHH until the very end. Michael P. Manns was 73 years old. 

‘Michael Manns was a loyal member of the GDNÄ for many years. With his passing, we have lost a highly respected scientist who worked tirelessly and with visionary energy for the good of humanity,’ said Professor Anke Kaysser-Pyzalla, President of the Society of German Natural Scientists and Physicians. 

‘Science has lost one of its best,’ said MHH President Professor Denise Hilfiker-Kleiner, adding: ‘I mourn the loss of a friend.’ Mann’s legacy will live on and continue to save many lives in the future. 

‘Michael Manns was my mentor, and I am eternally grateful to him,’ says Professor Heiner Wedemeyer, Director of the MHH Clinic for Gastroenterology, Hepatology, Infectiology and Endocrinology. ‘Chief physicians and doctors throughout Germany have benefited from his expertise, his encouragement and, above all, his immense personal support.’ 

According to the university, Manns shaped the MHH for decades. From 1991 to 2020, he headed the MHH Clinic for Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Endocrinology; from 2019 to the end of 2024, he was at the helm of the university. His tenure as president coincided with the coronavirus pandemic, a generational change at many levels and plans for the new MHH building. At the beginning of 2025, Michael Manns took up a senior professorship at the Centre for Individualised Infection Medicine (CiiM), which he co-founded and which is a joint initiative of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig and the MHH. 

Manns’ research focused on viral hepatitis, autoimmune diseases of the liver, hepatocellular carcinoma and transplant medicine. He was involved in clinical trials for new standard therapies and founded the National Competence Network for Hepatitis, which later became the German Liver Foundation. 

Manns received numerous honours for his services. He was one of the world’s most cited scientists and held the chair of several renowned societies, including the German Society for Digestive and Metabolic Diseases (DGVS), the German Working Group for the Study of the Liver (GASL), the German Society for Internal Medicine (DGIM) and United European Gastroenterology (UEG). In April 2025, the then Minister President Stephan Weil (SPD) awarded him the Grand Cross of Merit of the State of Lower Saxony.