In Memoriam: Prof. Dr. Michael P. Manns (1951–2025)

Physician, Scientist, Networker—but above all, a truly exceptional person, mentor, motivator, and visionary! It is with deep sadness that we mourn the passing of Michael Manns, who left us far too early on August 15, 2025. His loss is felt profoundly across the fields of gastroenterology and hepatology, where his vision, leadership, and passion shaped generations of physicians and scientists. Michael Manns was a passionate gastroenterologist whose lifelong mission was to uphold gastroenterology as a unified discipline, transcending subspecialties and divisions. On October 1, 1991, at not even 40 years old, Michael Manns became Director of the then Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology and Professor at Hannover Medical School (MHH). Over the following decades, there were repeated attempts by other universities to recruit him. Fortunately, MHH always succeeded in retaining him. Until March 31, 2020, Michael Manns undoubtedly built one of Germany's leading gastroenterology departments, including a state-of-the-art endoscopy and a large ultrasound unit. Alongside a strong focus on hepatology and outpatient care for bowel diseases, the department also specialized in gastroenterological oncology, hepatological transplant medicine, nutritional medicine, endocrinology and diabetology, a dedicated lipid clinic, infectious diseases and—in cooperation with pulmonology and nephrology—internal intensive care. Michael Manns fostered a dynamic atmosphere that encouraged creativity and scientific thinking. For these reasons and more, our department has been the most research-intensive at MHH for many years, measured by publication output and third-party funding. Michael Manns studied medicine in Mainz and Vienna. From 1977 to 1981, he trained under his mentor Karl-Hermann Meyer zum Büschenfelde in Berlin and Mainz. A pivotal moment in his scientific career was a research stay at the Autoimmune Disease Center of the Scripps Clinic in La Jolla, San Diego, where he made key discoveries on the autoantigen of LKM-1 autoantibodies in patients with autoimmune hepatitis. These highly regarded publications laid the foundation for his outstanding reputation in autoimmune liver diseases. Michael Manns coordinated several AIH guidelines. He was the first author of the only large randomized study on AIH for many years, comparing prednisolone standard therapy with budesonide, published in 2010. He also had a special interest in another serious immune liver disease: primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC). His famous description of PSC as the "black box of hepatology" reflects his deep engagement. Supporting the PSC International Study Group was very important to him. He was the last author of the first positive phase 3 study on norursodeoxycholic acid in PSC, recently presented by Michael Trauner from Vienna at the EASL Congress in May 2025 in Amsterdam. Michael Manns is naturally also associated with the impressive development of therapies against viral hepatitis. In the 1990s, his team studied the first antiviral drugs for hepatitis B, especially in the context of organ transplantation. He contributed greatly to studies that until 2014 established highly personalized hepatitis C therapies. The phase 3 approval study of PEG-IFNα-2b combined with ribavirin for hepatitis C, published in 2001 in The Lancet with Michael Manns as the first author, has been cited more than 8300 times! From Hannover, the worldwide standard therapy for acute hepatitis C was also established over nearly two decades. Furthermore, Michael Manns, as Chairman of the German Liver Foundation, supported the establishment of the globally renowned German Hepatitis C-Registry, which has enrolled over 18,000 patients and has already produced more than 40 original publications. Finally, his role in international networks and studies on hepatitis delta must be acknowledged. The HIDIT-1 (NEJM, 2011) and HIDIT-2 (Lancet Infectious Diseases, 2019) studies, conducted over nearly two decades by the HepNet-Study House, were by far the largest randomized trials for this rare viral liver infection and laid the groundwork for international therapy standards. The overall remarkable contributions of Michael Manns to the viral hepatitis field are also reflected by a simple PubMed search: "Manns M" and hepatitis B, C, or D yields an incredible 720 publications! Besides autoimmune and viral liver diseases, gastrointestinal oncology, especially hepatobiliary tumors, and transplant medicine were very important to Michael Manns. He was a spokesperson for a clinical research group and deputy spokesperson of two transregional collaborative research centers focused on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). After the death of Rudolf Pichlmayr in 1997, he took over as spokesperson of the collaborative research center "Immune reactions and pathomechanisms after organ transplantation," and from 2007 he led the SFB 738 "Optimization of conventional and innovative transplants" through three funding periods. A major factor in the international visibility of German hepatology was the establishment in 2002 of the Competence Network Hepatitis (Hep-Net), initiated and chaired by Michael Manns. Horizontal and vertical networking formed the foundation of the network. Collaborative studies involving private practitioners, university centers, and regular care hospitals remain the philosophy of Hep-Net today. From this, the German Liver Foundation emerged. Since 2006, Michael Manns has served as its chairman. The annual Hep-Net symposium of the German Liver Foundation has become a fixed and essential event in German hepatology. His dedication to translational infectious disease research was reflected in his acceptance in 2015 of the position of Clinical Director at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research. There, he significantly advanced personalized medicine for infectious diseases, a concept well established in oncology but still new in infectiology. By founding the Center for Individualised Infection Medicine (CiiM), where he was the founding director, he laid the foundation for this new field. Combining clinical expertise with excellent scientific training was a great concern for Michael Manns. He motivated many of his fellows to pursue postdoctoral research, ideally abroad. This mentorship was remarkably successful: over 10 national and international chairs in gastroenterology, oncology, or virology trace their roots to Hannover. Numerous chief physician positions and many successful specialized gastroenterology practices are also held by his protégés. The "Manns School" is undoubtedly legendary in Germany. Michael Manns was engaged in numerous scientific committees. For German gastroenterology, it is especially important to highlight that he served as secretary of the DGVS during a crucial transitional period from 1992 to 2000, leading it into the new millennium. Visionary was the first joint congress of gastroenterologists and surgeons, which Michael Manns co-chaired with surgeon Heinz Buhr in Hannover in 2006, decisively advancing visceral medicine. The German Liver Society (GASL) was also close to his heart and he successfully organized the 2012 GASL meeting as president in Hannover. Michael Manns did not see himself solely as a gastroenterologist and hepatologist; he was also, with great conviction, an internist. In 2014, he was the president of the German Society of Internal Medicine (DGIM). Internationally, Michael Manns has been visible on many levels for over four decades. He is regarded as a "giant of hepatology" in the United States, Asia, South America, Africa, Australia, and Europe. In the 1990s, he was active on the Scientific Committee of the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL). He was the first European to deliver the Leon Schiff State-of-the-Art Lecture at the American Liver Congress in October 2000. He held many editorial roles at leading liver journals. For European gastroenterology, he served as president of United European Gastroenterology from 2016 to 2017. Most recently, he valued his role as co-chair of the EASL-Lancet-Liver Commission, which highlighted the vastly underestimated significance of liver diseases in Europe and worldwide. It is impossible here to list all of Prof. Manns' awards, honors, and recognition. They began in 1985 with the Boehringer Ingelheim Prize from the University of Mainz, continued with honorary membership of the DGVS in 2021, and most recently included the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the State of Lower Saxony, awarded in April 2025 by then Minister-President Stephan Weil. Beyond all his scientific and organizational achievements, Michael Manns was above all a passionate physician. Many patients sought him out personally from far beyond Hannover. He always took the time to listen and met everyone with extraordinary empathy. This unique combination of medical excellence and human closeness deeply shaped his medical practice. All of this already constitutes an incredible legacy. Yet, Michael Manns still aimed to shape even more. In 2019, he became president of Hannover Medical School, the MHH, at that time Germany's only university dedicated exclusively to medicine and related health science. He guided MHH through truly turbulent times, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the planning of a complete rebuild of a university hospital, among other challenges. He demonstrated great skill and vision in managing the generational transition within MHH's clinics and institutes. For Michael Manns, the development of gastroenterology as a truly comprehensive and collaborative specialty was a lifelong concern. His energy, intellect, and commitment carried this mission forward with extraordinary intensity on both the national and international stage. With Michael Manns, we lose an absolute personality. What a physician, scientist, networker—but above all, what a truly special person, mentor, motivator, and visionary! The authors declare no conflicts of interest. Research data are not shared.