Stefan Benz

Dr. Stefan Benz was born in 1964 as one of four children of entrepreneur Rolf Benz. He studied medicine in Tubingen and Homburg, with study visits to New York City and Freiburg im Uechtland. Today Benz is the Chief Physician at the Clinic for General, Visceral, and Pediatric Surgery at the Boblingen Clinic. Previously he worked at the university hospitals in Tübingen, Rostock, and Freiburg im Breisgau and at the Nagold Clinic.

Benz's clinical and scientific research focuses on colorectal cancer, particularly complete mesocolic excision ( CME ). He directs the multi-center resection study for the evaluation of CME in Germany. Benz developed novel surgical variants for laparoscopic CME, the so-called uncinatum first approach. He also developed a classification for assessing the quality of a CME operation. He is head of the German working group on laparoscopic CME for the development of a standardized operation variant and developed a concept for the practical knowledge transfer of this operation. Benz is the inventor of several medical tools. For example, he developed the suction stent for the treatment and prophylaxis of anastomotic leaks.

Benz is a founding member and board member of the working group of German DKG-certified colon cancer centers. The association pursues the goal of further promoting the work of the recognized colon cancer centers in Germany and expanding the exchange of knowledge between the centers. He is also deputy chairman of the working group of German tumor centers.

In 2002, Benz received the Ludwig Rehn Prize from the Middle Rhine Surgeons' Association for his habilitation thesis on the pathophysiology of ischemia/reperfusion damage to the pancreas. [11] In 2017 he won the European Association of Endoscopic Surgery Cup Session.