PD Dr. med. Christoph Johannes TAUSCH

Biography

Associate Professor Dr Christoph Johannes Tausch studied medicine from 1981 to 1987 at the University of Innsbruck, Austria. He is now a highly experienced breast surgeon and Medical Director specialising in general surgery at the Zurich Breast Center. He speaks German and English.

During his training, he worked in general and visceral surgery at the Barmherzige Schwestern Hospital in Linz, Austria, then completed a fellowship at the Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori in Milan, Italy, and at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, USA. In 2016, he earned his habilitation in surgery from the Medical University of Innsbruck.

From 1988 to 2008, PD Dr Tausch held various leadership positions, working at the District Hospital Reutte, the Barmherzige Schwestern Hospital Linz, in private practice, and as an affiliated physician at the Diakonissen Clinic Linz and the General Hospital of Linz. Since 2008, he has been with the Zurich Breast Center, which he has led since 2017.

He has been a member of the EUBREAST Advisory Board since 2019 and served as President of the Swiss Society of Senology from 2021 to 2023. From 2017 to 2021, he was Director of the Senology Diploma at the Swiss Society of Senology, and since 2016, he has been President of the Breast Cancer Treatment Center at the Hirslanden Clinic in Zurich. He has also served on the executive boards of several professional societies, including the Swiss and Austrian Society for Senology (ÖGS) and the Austrian Breast and Colorectal Study Group (ABCSG) from 1999 to 2023.

PD Dr Tausch is affiliated with numerous medical associations, including the Swiss Society of Surgery, the European Society of Mastology, the Swiss Group for Clinical Cancer Research (SAKK) and the Austrian Society of Surgical Oncology, where he led the Breast Cancer Task Force from 1999 to 2001. These roles underscore his strong commitment and recognition within the specialist community.

Throughout his long medical career, he has made significant scientific contributions, with over 89 professional publications and participation as Principal Investigator in more than 25 multicentre studies. Since 2021, he has been Coordinating Investigator for the VISION study, a multicentre project in four countries examining whether surgery can be replaced by vacuum biopsy in cases of complete tumour response following neoadjuvant chemotherapy. With more than 250 lectures, PD Dr Tausch is also a sought-after expert at national and international conferences on breast cancer treatment and research.

In addition to his clinical and scientific work, he has been teaching at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Basel since 2014. He has also shared his extensive medical knowledge at workshops of the Swiss Society of Senology and as a lecturer at the University of Vienna and the Diakonissen Nursing School in Linz. 

Education

• 2016 – Habilitation in Surgery, Medical University of Innsbruck
• 2002 – GCP Training, Medical University of Graz
• 1997 – Fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York
• 1993 – Fellowship at the Istituto Nazionale per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori, Milan
• 1989 – 1994 – General and Visceral Surgery, Hospital of the Sisters of Mercy, Linz
• 1981 – 1987 – Medical Studies, University of Innsbruck, Austria

Memberships

• Chairman, Breast Cancer Center, Hirslanden Clinic Zurich
• Director of the Senology Diploma Program, Swiss Society of Senology
• Board Member, Swiss Society of Senology
• Board Member, Austrian Society of Senology
• Advisory Board Member, Austrian Breast Cancer Study Group (ABCSG)
• International Breast Cancer Study Group (IBCSG)
• Swiss Society of Surgery
• Medical Association of the Canton of Zurich
• Swiss Group for Clinical Cancer Research (SAKK)
• European Society of Mastology
• Working Group for Surgical Oncology (ACO)
• Oncoplastic Breast Consortium
• World Society of Surgery