7 Jul 2026
With the induction of the director of the Institute of General Medicine at LMU Medical Center, a general practitioner has become a member of this long-established scholarly society for the first time
Prof. Dr. Jochen Gensichen, Director of the Institute of General Medicine at LMU Medical Center and holder of the Chair of General Medicine at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, has been elected to the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. On June 17, 2026, he received his certificate as a new member of Class III—Medicine—in Halle/Saale. His admission marks the first time a general practitioner has become a member of this long-established academy.
With this honor, the Leopoldina recognizes Gensichen’s scientific achievements in general medicine and health services research. His work focuses on primary care for patients with chronic illnesses and multiple chronic conditions. “With this induction, the Leopoldina underscores the great scientific breadth in medicine,” says Prof. Dr. Jochen Gensichen about the honor.
Gensichen has headed the Institute of General Medicine at LMU Medical Center since 2016. Prior to that, he served as director of the Institute of General Medicine at Jena University Hospital from 2008 to 2016. His academic and clinical career combines medicine, public health, and education: After studying educational sciences, human medicine, and health sciences/public health, he worked in primary care and general medical research. Since 2013, he has served as executive director of the Foundation for General Medicine.
Zu seinen Forschungsschwerpunkten gehören unter anderem die Versorgung von Menschen mit chronischen Erkrankungen, Multimorbidität sowie psychischer Gesundheit in der Primärversorgung. Seit 2021 ist er Sprecher des DFG-Graduiertenkollegs „POKAL – Prädiktoren und klinische Ergebnisse bei depressiven Erkrankungen in der hausärztlichen Versorgung“.
Charakteristisch für die Forschung von Jochen Gensichen ist die enge Verbindung zur Praxis. Aus klinisch-epidemiologischen Beobachtungen, Interventionsstudien und gesundheitsökonomischen Analysen entwickelt er Modelle, die sich unmittelbar in den hausärztlichen Alltag übertragen lassen. Zentral ist dabei das Konzept der „collaborative care“, die eine hausärztlicher Betreuung mit fachärztlichen, psychotherapeutischen und pflegerischen Kompetenzen verzahnt. Die Wirksamkeit dieses Ansatzes überprüft Jochen Gensichen in methodisch anspruchsvollen Studien, so beispielsweise mit der PICTURE-Studie, die eine Kurzform der Narrativen Expositions Therapie bei posttraumatischen Belastungssymptomen nach Intensivbehandlung untersuchte.
About the Leopoldina:
The Leopoldina was founded in 1652 and is the world’s oldest continuously operating academy of natural sciences and medicine. Since 2008, it has served as the National Academy of Sciences and advises policymakers, the business community, and society on key scientific and societal issues.