Cell biology and medical education—a thematic issue dedicated to Adi Ellinger

Abstract

This special themed issue of the Wiener Medizinische Wochenschrift addresses various different topics which have in common that they are all connected with Adi Ellinger in some way. Colleagues of Adi's, who worked with him either recently or many years ago, have been invited to contribute to this issue by submitting a manuscript on one of the topics on which they collaborated. The list of the articles mirrors Adi's different interests and his successful collaborations. It is one of the specific features of this issue that contributions of scientific work on burning cell biology questions are alongside topics that have a central role in the teaching and education of medical students. I am very happy and grateful that all those invited scientists, former or current colleagues, and co-workers of Adi's accepted the invitation to contribute to this issue. Two articles are dedicated to medical education. Rudolf Mallinger contributes with a comprehensive text about the history and actual questions on University and Medicine ("Universität und Medizin"). Details of the reform processes relating to the development of a new curriculum for medical students (MCW) are described in the article by Richard März ("A scientific approach to the reform of a medical curriculum: a personal account of the Vienna experience"). The topics addressed in the other contributions provide actual insights into cellular life and death. Essential cell functions in healthy and diseased cells are highlighted, such as cholesterol metabolism in the article by Clemens Röhrl and Herbert Stangl ("Cholesterol metabolism-physiological regulation and pathophysiological deregulation by the endo