Professor René Mantke, MD, habil., is Professor of General and Visceral Surgery at Brandenburg Medical School Theodor Fontane and Director of the Department of General and Visceral Surgery at University Hospital Brandenburg, Germany. Since 2015, he has combined clinical leadership in academic surgery with research and teaching, and from 2014 to 2023 served as Vice Dean for Research during the establishment of Brandenburg Medical School. His clinical expertise includes complex pancreatic and liver surgery, colorectal cancer surgery, endocrine surgery, and robotic/minimally invasive procedures.
He leads the research group Clinical Outcome and Quality in Surgery, focusing on health services research, surgical oncology, quality of care, complication prevention, and the use of routine and cancer registry data. A growing part of his work addresses artificial intelligence in surgery, including AI-supported image analysis, outcome prediction, and digital tools for perioperative quality improvement. His group has obtained competitive third-party funding and collaborates internationally, including with the Botton-Champalimaud Pancreatic Cancer Centre in Lisbon and Harvard Medical School. Professor Mantke has authored more than 100 publications, delivered over 200 presentations, and edited six surgical textbooks.