Researcher profile

Jürgen M. Steinacker

Professor Dr. med. Dr. h.c. Jürgen Michael STEINACKER is CEO of the Institute for Rehabilitation Research at Ulm University (ifR Bad Buchau) and University Professor for Sport and of Sports and Rehabilitation Medicine. Specialist in internal medicine, cardiology, sports medicine and rehabilitation medicine, until 30.09.2023 division head of at the University Hospital of Ulm. Chair of the "European Initiative for Exercise in Medicine". Chief Editor of the German Journal of Sports Medicine "Deutsche Zeitschrift für Sportmedizin". 427 original and review articles in peer-reviewed journals, Scopus-h-index = 54, 12.127 citations (Scopus 06/2025). Editor of 16 books or special editions. Steinacker focuses on internal sports medicine and sports cardiology, performance physiology centre for competitive athletes, professional and national teams with research projects on sport-specific performance diagnostics. Current studies focus on postviral syndromes, e.g. Post acute squelae of Covid (PASC), overtraining and overuse syndromes. Dr. Steinacker reintroduced muscle biopsy into sports medicine research in Germany from 1990 and established a molecular muscle laboratory. In 1999, the first evidence was found that stress proteins are formed during intensive training, and in 2013, evidence was found that the heat shock proteins alter the metabolism. Studies are currently being conducted on gene expression in muscle during stress and in diseases such as Huntington's or ALS. In a large prospective study, it was shown that sarcopenia and low oxygen uptake lead to significant excess mortality in hematolocic patients with stem cell transplants. Dr. Steinacker promotes population based health promotion projects and heads the program: “Komm in das gesunde Boot”, funded by the „Baden-Württemberg Stiftung“. Since 2009, it has been promoting physical activity and healthy lifestyles among primary school and kindergarten children in Baden-Württemberg. Until the year 2024, per year 5.000 teachers, 3.000 educators and about 200,000 children were involved. Steinacker cofounded the Ulm age cohort "ActiFE" with a cardiology focus and was in the European JPI-HDHL initiative "Policy Evaluation Network - PEN" work package leader. After studying medicine in Tübingen and Ulm, Steinacker obtained his doctorate "summa cum laude" in 1985 on the transcutaneous determination of oxygen pressure and began his medical career in the German Armed Forces before joining the then Department of Sports and Performance Medicine at Ulm University Hospital in 1988 as a senior physician, and since 2002 as head of the new Division of Sports and Rehabilitation Medicine. In 1995 he promoted as Associate Professor (Habilitation) on the subject of upper body ergometry in patients with arterial occlusive disease. After a call to the TU Chemnitz, he was appointed Full Professor of Sports and Rehabilitation Medicine at Ulm University in 2007. Dr Steinacker has received a doctorate honoris causa from the renowned Semmelweis University, Budapest. He is a visiting professor at the South-East University Nanjing, China. He and his team were awarded the "Rufzeichen Gesundheit" foundation prize in 2014 and the MSD Health Prize in 2015 for the "Komm in das gesunde Boot" project. In 2015, he received the prestigious "Hufeland Prize for Preventive Medicine" from the German Medical Association and the Hufeland Foundation. Dr. Steinacker was among others, member from 2010 to 2016 of the "Health, Medical and Research Committee" of the "World Anti-Doping-Agency (WADA)", 1987- 2021 member of the Scientific Council of the DGSP. He is a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine and the European College of Sports Science. Dr. Steinacker was president of the "Sports, Medicine and Health Summit 2021" and in this context also organised the "Hamburg Declaration 2021, Global Alliance for the Promotion of Physical Activity" with more than 45 organisations, in particular the IOC, important international and national professional associations including the German Medical Association and the DOSB. https://www.exerciseismedicine.eu/hamburg-declaration/global-alliance-for-promotion-of-physical-activity.html In 2025, the Global Alliance met again at the SMHS in Hamburg and signed a declaration on "precision prevention". Dr. Steinacker looked after numerous national teams of the German Rowing Association from 1983 to 2016, from 1989 to 2016 as team doctor for the juniors, and since then in international functions, including as Olympic doctor in Beijing in 2012, at the Youth Olympics in Nanjing in 2015, in London in 2016 and in Tokyo in 2021.