Prof. Dr. med. Dr. rer. nat. Bettina Pfleiderer is the mother of two adult daughters and works as a professor and head of the Cognition & Gender research group at the Radiology Department of the University Hospital Münster, Faculty of Medicine at the University of Münster. She studied at three universities: Mainz, Tübingen, and Münster, and holds both a doctorate in chemistry and medicine. Following her scientific doctorate, she worked for five years in the United States at the Harvard Medical School at the Massachusetts General Hospital (Radiology) in Boston.

Internationally recognized as an expert in the field of gender-sensitive medicine, she teaches this subject at the Medical Faculty in Münster and has developed an online platform for gender-sensitive medicine (www.GendMed-Wiki.de). Another focus of her work is combating domestic violence, and she is leading the EU project VIPROM “Victim Protection in Medicine” from 2023 to 2026 (www.viprom-cerv.eu). Promoting women in leadership positions is another key aspect of her work; she delivers lectures worldwide on these topics and participates in podcasts.

Bettina Pfleiderer’s hobby is music. She plays the violin in a chamber orchestra and is fortunate to be able to combine her hobby with teaching. She also teaches the pre-clinical elective course “Medicine & Music” at the Medical Faculty in Münster.

She has also been involved in various leadership roles internationally. From 2016 to 2019, she served as the President of the World Medical Women’s Association, from 2021 to 2023 as Vice President of the European Women’s Lobby (EWL) in Brussels – an umbrella organization for 2000 women’s associations in Europe. Since 2023, she has been a member of the EU’s W20 delegation. The W20 is an official group of the G20 that focuses on gender equality and strengthening the role of women. Within the W20, she works in a working group that addresses how to locally and sustainably improve women’s living conditions.

On a national level, Bettina Pfleiderer mentors young female doctors, serves as the head of the Regional Group of the German Medical Women’s Association, and has been a trusted lecturer for the German National Academic Foundation for many years. Her dedication and research have earned her both international and national honors, including the Federal Cross of Merit in 2010.