Prof. Dr. Hans Peter Wendel, Research Director of the Department of Thoracic, Cardiovascular and Vascular Surgery at the University Hospital in Tübingen, has been working for more than 30 years in the fields of “blood-contacting biomaterials” and “biologisation of medical technology”. Through his research activities, he has been able to identify promising paths to completely new biofunctional medical products using interdisciplinary approaches between biotechnology and medical technology. To date, he has published over 200 original scientific papers in international journals and is the global contact point for blood compatibility. He holds over a dozen high-calibre patents.