The sad news this month is the passing of Dr. Gerhard Zinser at the age of 63 years. If you’ve ever performed retinal imaging, the chances are you’ve heard of him, and it’s very likely that you’ve used an instrument that owes something to his work – the Heidelberg Retina Angiograph, the Heidelberg Retina Tomograph, or the Spectralis OCT (and the software that produces the images for these instruments) are the big-ticket items. More generally, if you use confocal laser scanning to image the retina or the optic nerve, Gerhard didn’t invent the technique – but he was instrumental in taking it out of the laboratory and in to the clinic.
In fact, this is a Heidelberg story: born in the nearby German town of Speyer, Gerhard lived there until his passing. His first degree (a MSc in Physics), PhD (Natural Sciences; applied optics) were both received from the University of Heidelberg, and his post-doctoral research (examining 3D light-microscopic image acquisition and processing) was performed at the nearby German Cancer Research Center. In 1990, he and Christoph Schoess founded a tech startup called Heidelberg Engineering. As an editor, I baulk at seeing anything that comes across as a billet-doux to a single company, but in the case of Gerhard and what he’s achieved over the years, he truly is a Heidelberg Man.
From my perspective, Heidelberg Engineering appears to be a formal – almost stereotypically German – company. But if you speak to those who work there, in many respects, it really isn’t. They talk about the company’s culture: a flat hierarchy, and for anyone who has ever spoken or learned German, here’s something big: everybody uses the informal ‘Du’, rather than the formal (and more common) ‘Sie’. It’s certainly worked for them – and that’s down to Gerhard and Christoph. I think the combination of German, Engineer and Physicist is what prompted this comment from the first ophthalmologist I spoke to (Pearse Keane) after I heard the news: “I never met him, but it’s clear to me that his character is reflected in Heidelberg Engineering, with their focus on high-quality engineering and precision.”
So I implore you – even if you’re an employee of a competitor, or a dyed-in-the-wool user of a different company’s product – think of Gerhard when you next raise a glass. Toast him, and remember what he’s helped reveal of the retina.
Mark Hillen
Editor
I spent seven years as a medical writer, writing primary and review manuscripts, congress presentations and marketing materials for numerous – and mostly German – pharmaceutical companies. Prior to my adventures in medical communications, I was a Wellcome Trust PhD student at the University of Edinburgh.
