Holger is DIAS Professor of Anatomy and Translational Biomedicine at the University of Southern Denmark (SDU), Odense, still being affiliated as Head of Medical Technology Development at the Institute of Structural Mechanics and Lightweight Design (SLA) to RWTH Aachen University, Germany. A molecular biologist and biomedical researcher by training, he specialises in musculoskeletal regeneration, biomaterials, cartilage biology, and translational orthopaedics.
Holger received his MSc in Microbiology and Genetic Engineering from the University of Bielefeld, where he also completed his first doctorate (Dr. rer. nat.). He subsequently undertook postdoctoral research at the Department of Molecular Genetics, University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands (2000–2001), before joining the Department of Internal Medicine (2001–2005) and the Department of Orthopaedics (2001–2013) at Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam, where he headed the Molecular Orthopaedics lab. In 2007 he was also a visiting scientist at Stanford University. Upon moving to RWTH Aachen University in 2013, he first directed Orthopaedic Research at the Medical Faculty prior to pursuing anatomical training there, earning a second doctorate (Dr. rer. medic.) in Theoretical Medicine and qualifying as a board-certified anatomist (Fachanatom) — a prerequisite for the extended habilitation that granted him the venia legendi in both anatomy and experimental orthopaedics at the Institute of Anatomy and Cell Biology of the Medical Faculty.
Holger's research addresses how musculoskeletal cells and tissues respond to their physicochemical microenvironment — including osmotic, mechanical, and biochemical stimuli — with the long-term aim of developing disease-modifying therapies for Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). He is widely regarded as a pioneer in the additive manufacturing of metallic medical devices, having contributed substantially to the design of lightweight, porous, and patient-specific implants using resorbable metals such as magnesium, zinc, and iron, as well as lattice-structured titanium scaffolds. His work integrates omics and pharmacokinetics to bridge fundamental biology and clinical translation, and he has been an active contributor to major European research programmes including the EU FP7 project D-BOARD and the PRosPERoS cross-border initiative on personalised orthopaedic implants.
His contributions to the field have been recognised with several distinguished awards, among them the ICRS/Genzyme Excellence in Cartilage Research Award, the Klee Family Biomedical Innovation Award (2017), and the first European ORS Collaborative Exchange Grant. He has authored and co-authored more than 190 peer-reviewed publications and has accumulated over 7,900 citations with an h-index of 53 (Google Scholar). Holger is Past President of the European Orthopaedic Research Society (EORS) and currently serves as Chair of the ORS Collaborations Council. He is a Fellow of the Orthopaedic Research Society (FORS) and a Fellow of the International Combined Orthopaedic Research Societies (FIOR), honours that reflect his standing in the global musculoskeletal research community.
