Friedrich Paulsen is Professor and Chair of the Institute of Functional and Clinical Anatomy at Friedrich Alexander University (FAU) Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany. He is an editor of the SOBOTTA Atlas and the SOBOTTA Textbook of Human Anatomy. Since 2006, he has been secretary and board member of the German Anatomical Society and is past president of the European Federation of Experimental Morphology (EFEM). He served as Secretary General of the International Federation of Associations of Anatomists from 2009 to 2019. He is also editor-in-chief of the Annals of Anatomy, section leader. Dr. Paulsen received his MD from CAU Kiel, worked as a researcher in Bristol, UK, and was a full professor of anatomy at MLU Halle-Wittenberg, Germany, from 2004 to 2010 until he took over the chair of anatomy in Erlangen. Dr. Paulsen has been vice president of the FAU from 2016 to 2022. In 2022, he obtained a Doctor honoris causa from the Carol Davila University in Bukarest, and in 2023, he obtained a Doctor honoris causa from the Grigore T. Popa University of Iasi in Romania, and in 2024, he was honoured with the Anton Waldeyer Prize of the Anatomical Society and the Anton Waldeyer Foundation in 2024 for his outstanding scientific achievements, which are based on the importance of anatomy for medical practice and the close relationship between anatomy and the clinic. His main research interests include the head and neck region, especially the function and immunology of the ocular surface.