René Fortelny is a general and visceral surgeon with special expertise in the field of hernia surgery and head of the experimental hernia group at LBI Trauma. As head of the experimental hernia group, he played a key role in setting up and leading this research unit and continues to act as a clinical advisor.

René’s career has spanned several key positions: These include leading the experimental hernia group at LBI Trauma, serving as senior consultant of the 2nd Department of Surgery at Wilhelminenspital Vienna from 1996 to 2020, and presidency of the Austrian Hernia Society and the Austrian Society for Minimally Invasive Surgery. Since 2016, René has held the position of University Professor of General Surgery at the Medical Faculty of the Sigmund Freud University of Vienna.

Over the course of his career, René Fortelny has published more than 120 papers in renowned peer-reviewed journals, as well as several book chapters. His expertise in hernia surgery has been recognised as one of the world’s leading experts in this field by Expertscape. René is also a reviewer for numerous academic peer-review journals, including the prestigious medical journal The Lancet.