Univ.-Prof. Dr. Ali Canbay

Department of Medicine, Knappschaft Kliniken Universitäty Hospital Bochum, Ruhr University Bochum

Short biography

Ali Canbay has been Professor of Medicine at Ruhr University Bochum (RUB) and Director of the Department of Medicine at Knappschaft Kliniken University Hospital Bochum since October 2019. His scientific work includes clinical, translational and basic research in hepatology and gastroenterology, in particular on metabolic associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD; previously NAFLD) and acute and chronic liver failure.

After studying medicine at the University of Bochum, Prof. Canbay began his research at the Mayo Clinic in the USA, where he completed his doctorate on cell death mechanisms. Back in Germany, he continued his research on cell death mechanisms and clinical research in hepatic steatosis, discovered important polymorphisms in the vitamin D receptor and documented for the first time in Germany the development of hepatocellular carcinoma in non-cirrhotic MAFLD. He completed his residency training in the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Essen University Hospital in 2007 and obtained his specialization in internal medicine in 2006. In addition, he acquired qualifications in internal intensive care medicine (2008), the specialization in gastroenterology (2010) and the additional qualifications “Drug-based tumour therapy” and “Transplantation medicine” (2018).

From 2017 to 2019, he was Professor of Gastroenterology and Director of the University Hospital for Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Infectious Diseases at the Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, where he continued his research into the gut microbiome and experimental stem cell therapies. Since moving to Bochum, he has expanded his research portfolio, particularly in the fields of artificial intelligence, chronobiology, ageing and rare genetic liver diseases.

Prof. Canbay has received numerous awards, including the Edward Kendall Award and the Hiromasa Ishi Memorial Award. He holds visiting professorships at the University of California, Saint Louis University and the Mongolian National University of Medical Sciences. He is Associate Editor and member of editorial boards of many journals and is a member of EASL, AASLD and other scientific research associations. In 2022 he was President of the German Association for the Study of the Liver (GASL) and in 2023/2024 of the Society for Gastroenterology in North Rhine-Westphalia e.V. and organized the respective annual congresses in Bochum. He is also Chairman of the Board of the Alfred-Nissle-Gesellschaft e.V. and Treasurer of DePROM.