Scientific Biography
Education
After completing his medical degree at the University of Cologne and an additional internship at the Medical Faculty of Montpellier/France Axel Karenberg specialized successfully in neurology and psychiatry and received a formal training in the history of medicine. In 1992 he was granted a prestigious scholarship by the German Research Association which enabled him to stay as Research and Teaching Fellow at the Department of Medical Humanities at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). After completing his Ph.D. in 2000, he was appointed Associate Professor of the History of Medicine at the University of Cologne.
Scientific degrees and academic titles
MD, PhD.
Associate Professor of the History of Medicine at the University of Cologne/Germany.
Professeur titulaire at the Université du Luxembourg.
Scientific activity
Axel Karenberg wrote extensively on historical and ethical aspects of the neurosciences and psychiatry and on ancient medicine as well as the history of hospitals and medical education. His previous publications include Learning at the Bedside: German University Clinics 1760 to 1840, The Healing Art in Ancient Civilizations (in two volumes), Amor, Aesculapius & Co.: Classical Mythology and the Language of Modern Medicine. He is also author of several textbooks on medical terminology.
Honors, awards and prizes
1985: Hochaus Award for the best dissertation (University of Cologne, Faculty of Medicine).
2003: Student’s Award for best medical course in preclinical education.
2010: Award of Distinction for the best oral presentation at the 42nd World Congress of the International Society for the History of Medicine.
2012: President of the German Society for the History of the Neurology and Psychiatry.
Research Interests
History of the Neurosciences;
Ancient Medicine;
History of Hospitals and Medical Education;
Ethics in Psychiatry;
History of Medical Terminology;
Medical Humanities.
Professional Organizations
International Society for the History of Medicine;
German Association for the History of Medicine, Science and Technology;
Société française d’histoire de la médecine;
International Society for the History of the Neurosciences;
German Society for the History of Neurology and Psychiatry;
German Society for the History of Hospitals.
Scientific Publications
Karenberg A. Frédéric Chopin and his neuropsychiatric problems. Progress in Brain Research 2015; 216: 343-54. doi: 10.1016/bs.pbr.2014.11.014.
Marx F.J., Karenberg A. History of the Term Prostate. The Prostate 2009; 69: 208-213. doi: 10.1002/pros.20871.
Karenberg A. History of Neurology – the Greco-Roman World. In: Finger, S., Botter, F., Tylor, K. L. (eds.): Handbook of Clinical Neurology, Vol. 95, 3rd series. Amsterdam: Elsevier 2009, pp. 49-59. doi: 10.1016/S0072-9752(08)02105-2.
Karenberg A. Multiple Sclerosis on-screen: From disaster to coping. Multiple Sclerosis 2008; 14: 530-540. doi: 10.1177/1352458507084587.
Karenberg A., Hort I. Medieval Descriptions and Doctrines of Stroke. Part I-III. Journal of the History of the Neurosciences 1998; 7: 162-200.
