Peter Heusser

Peter Heusser (* August 29, 1950 in Brienz, Switzerland) is a specialist in general medicine (FMH) and holds the senior professorship in medical anthropology at the University of Witten/Herdecke. He held the Gerhard Kienle Chair in Medical Theory, Integrative and Anthroposophic Medicine there from 2009 to 2016. His research focuses on the effectiveness of anthroposophic and integrative therapeutic methods, the evaluation of anthroposophic medical training concepts, medical anthropology, and the epistemological, conceptual, and ideological-historical foundations of anthroposophic medicine.

Vita

Born in Brienz on August 29, 1950, school years in the canton of Solothurn and the USA, medical studies in Bern, further training as a specialist in general medicine and certificate of competence in anthroposophic medicine, doctorate at the University of Basel on Ignaz Paul Vital Troxler, Master of Medical Education at the University of Bern. Medical practice at the Ita Wegman Clinic and the Lukas Clinic in Arlesheim as well as at the University Hospital of Bern. 1995-2008 Lecturer in Anthroposophic Medicine at the Institute for Complementary Medicine (ICOM) of the Medical Faculty of the University of Bern and 2009-2016 Chair of Medical Theory, Integrative and Anthroposophic Medicine, Director of the Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Witten/Herdecke, as well as founder and co-director of the Research and Teaching Center (FLZ) at the Herdecke Community Hospital. Since 2017, he has been a senior professor of medical anthropology at Witten/Herdecke University.

Research

Peter Heusser provided essential impulses for the scientific-theoretical substantiation and a contemporary conceptual understanding of anthroposophic medicine. As the first lecturer in anthroposophic medicine, he established a department for experimental and clinical homeopathic and anthroposophic medical research at the University of Bern together with colleagues and was co-leader of a Swiss National Science Foundation study on quality of life in patients with non-curable cancer. Furthermore, he was an expert of the Swiss Federal Office of Social Insurance for the development of criteria for the evaluation of the benefits of complementary medicine methods, as well as a member of the national steering committee of the Swiss-wide program Evaluation of Complementary Medicine PEK at the Federal Office of Public Health and an expert for anthroposophic medicine in the Swissmedic Medicines Expert Committee of the Swiss Agency for Therapeutic Products. At Witten/Herdecke University, he played a major role in the conception of the Integrative and Personalized Health Care (IPGV) research focus of the Faculty of Health. Currently, he and his collaborators are establishing the Research and Teaching Center at the Herdecke Community Hospital (FLZ), a supporting institution of the Center for Clinical Studies at Witten/Herdecke University (ZKS-UWH) and initiated a research group on the epigenetic regulation of stress. He is also involved in the development and evaluation of new integrative training formats for medical education. An important focus of his work is a medical anthropology extended to the humanities. In this context, he and his colleagues founded the interdisciplinary Witten Colloquia for Humanism, Medicine and Philosophy. Peter Heusser further cooperates scientifically with the University of Bern as well as with other research institutions. Heusser is currently working on volumes of study commentaries on Rudolf Steiner's "first course in medicine.".

Publications

• Heusser, Peter (2016). Anthroposophy and science : an introduction / Peter Heusser. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang Edition. ISBN 978-3-631-67224-2.