Udo Schumacher, born on October 19, 1956, in Westerland on the island of Sylt, embarked on his academic journey at the Boy Lornsen Primary School in Westerland, followed by the Friedrich Paulsen Gymnasium in Niebüll/Nordfriesland, where he completed his Abitur in 1975. As a scholarship recipient of the Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes, he pursued medical studies at the Christian-Albrechts-Universität Kiel starting in 1975. In 1978, during his studies, he spent a year at the Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology in Philadelphia, USA, under the mentorship of future Nobel laureate Peter Doherty.
Upon returning to Kiel, Dr. Schumacher achieved his medical licensure in 1983 and completed his doctoral thesis on "Serological Reactions to Foreign Proteins in Mice" at the Institute of Pathology. Initially appointed as a scientific assistant at the Institute of Pathology at CAU Kiel, he later joined Ulrich Welsch at the Anatomical Institute of LMU Munich, where he habilitated in anatomy.
In 1991, Dr. Schumacher accepted a position as Professor of Human Morphology at the University of Southampton, UK. In 1997, he was appointed to lead the Institute of Anatomy and Experimental Morphology at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, where he served as director until his retirement in 2022. His research primarily focused on the significance of the glycocalyx in tumor dissemination and respiratory infections. In addition to his work as a scientist and academic teacher, Udo Schumacher was a long-standing co-editor and author of "Prometheus".
Following his retirement, Dr. Schumacher assumed a professorship in anatomy at the Medical School Berlin in 2022, where he continued to contribute until he unexpectedly passed away on July 23, 2024. We fondly remember his sharp intellect and his distinctive North German humor, which he retained throughout his life. The Anatomical Society will honor his memory and mourns the loss of a highly esteemed and dear colleague.
The Board of the Anatomical Society
Stefan Britsch, Thomas Deller, Heike Kielstein, Friedrich Paulsen und Jochen Staiger
