Interview with Dr. Jan Bednarsch—Winner of the JCM 2022 Young Investigator Award

We are pleased to announce the winner of the JCM 2022 Young Investigator Award—Dr. Jan Bednarsch.

Name: Dr. Jan Bednarsch

Affiliation: Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany

Research Interests: colorectal liver metastases, cholangiocellular carcinoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, liver surgery, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, and pancreas surgery

We would like to thank the award committee for selecting one winner from a large number of exceptional candidates, Dr. Jan Bednarsch. We will continue to reward scholars with the Young Investigator Award to express our acknowledgment of their support for the Journal of Clinical Medicine (JCM, ISSN: 2077-0383). We wish them every success in their careers.

The following is a short interview with Dr. Jan Bednarsch:

Could you briefly introduce yourself and your current research to our readers?
My name is Jan Bednarsch and I am a consultant surgeon and clinical scientist at RWTH Aachen University in Germany. I studied at Charité University Berlin in Germany, where I also obtained my doctoral degree as a result of clinical research conducted during my time in medical school. Later, I did my surgical training at RWTH Aachen University. Here, I also continued to pursue my research interests in clinical medicine and translational oncology with a focus on surgery. In these terms, I am working on clinical studies (including randomized trials) in hepatobiliary surgery and translational research in cholangiocellular carcinoma, exploring biomarkers and various other topics.

Why did you choose the current research topic? What attracted you to work on it?
I always had a strong interest in surgery and the theoretical basis of it. Furthermore, I was also very interested in oncology in combination with surgery. Therefore, general surgery with a focus on hepato-biliary-pancreatic surgery seemed like a logical choice for me. As my research interests matched my clinical interests, I enjoy researching topics that have a direct influence on actual clinical work. The thing that most drives me to investigate clinical or translational topics is that the results can immediately be transferred into patient treatment and subsequently improve outcomes or facilitate decision making. Thus, the idea to improve surgical treatment for cancer patients keeps fascinating me and attracts me to continuously work on it.

How did you overcome difficulties while conducting research?
Being a clinician scientist, time is my most limited resource. One key to success is subsequently developing time efficiency to integrate research time into the “regular” workload as a surgeon working in a large center. It is also essential to work in well-organized interdisciplinary teams as it is not possible to do all the work by oneself. Building an infrastructure that helps to work efficiently, balancing time investment with meaningful scientific output, was therefore most important for me. Additionally, I strongly advise young researchers to collaborate with dedicated scientists from other disciplines, which helps to develop new ideas and approaches. Additionally, organizational support in terms of internal funding, providing opportunities, and off-time is essential to overcoming natural difficulties.

What is your opinion of the open access model of publishing?
In my mind, open access should be the preferred method of choice when publishing because it gives instant access to publications for researchers all over the world. It is therefore the most democratic and efficient way to distribute research.

As the winner of this award, is there anything you would like to express?
I, of course, would like to express my gratitude to the Award Committee for their support of my work as well as to the editorial team of the Journal of Clinical Medicine for the excellent and professional handling of research work submitted to them. As such, I can encourage any scientist to consider the Journal of Clinical Medicine for their valuable research.