(Vienna, 01-07-2025) On 1 July, Pascal Baltzer will take up the professorship for magnetic resonance radiology (§98) at the Medical University of Vienna. The radiologist has been working at the Department of Biomedical Imaging and Image-guided Therapy at MedUni Vienna since 2012, where he is responsible for urogenital imaging. Pascal Baltzer aims to further strengthen clinically relevant MRI research in Vienna – and to share his "joy of science and curiosity about new discoveries with students and colleagues for the benefit of patients".
Pascal Baltzer, born in Cologne, completed his studies in Jena, where he began his career in radiology under the guidance of Werner Alois Kaiser – one of the world's leading pioneers of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and founder of MR mammography. He received his doctorate in 2005 and his habilitation in 2010. He worked for many years at Jena University Hospital as a research group leader, modalities manager and division manager.
Baltzer has been working at the Medical University of Vienna since 2012, where he is responsible for urogenital imaging. His scientific focus is clearly on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) – from neuroscientific questions to oncological diagnostics. Baltzer is particularly internationally recognised for his work on breast, bladder and prostate imaging. With the so-called Kaiser Score, he established a clinical decision rule (Level of Evidence I) for MR mammography that is used worldwide. However, Baltzer is also committed to promoting young talent and has already accompanied numerous diploma students, PhD students and postdoctoral researchers on their scientific path.
Pascal Baltzer has held senior editorial positions since 2006, including at European Radiology, PLoS One and the European Journal of Radiology (EJR), where he has been editor-in-chief since 2020. Since 2024, he has also been editor-in-chief of the sister journal EJR – Artificial Intelligence.
He is involved in professional politics in numerous national and international committees: currently as chairman of the Mammography Diagnostics Working Group of the German Radiological Society (DRG), deputy head of the Urogenital Radiology Working Group of the Austrian Radiological Society (ÖRG) and as secretary general of the European Society of Breast Imaging (EUSOBI). In addition, he is Principal Investigator of the Christian Doppler Laboratory for Patient-Centred Breast Imaging, which opened at MedUni Vienna in 2024, and of an Austria-wide pilot project on contrast-enhanced mammography screening.
Pascal Baltzer's goal is to further strengthen clinically relevant MRI research in Vienna – and to share his "joy of science and curiosity about new discoveries with students and colleagues for the benefit of patients", as he says.