Assoc. Prof. Marko Kraljević, MD
Specialist in General Surgery and Subspecialist in Abdominal Surgery
Assoc. Prof. Marko Kraljević, MD is a specialist in general surgery and a subspecialist in abdominal surgery, a Croatian-Swiss citizen born in 1987. Dr. Kraljević has built an outstanding international medical and scientific career. His professional path reflects exceptional surgical expertise and a long-standing dedication to the development of modern minimally invasive and bariatric-metabolic surgery.
Biography:
Marko Kraljević, MD is internationally trained in general and abdominal surgery, with a particular focus on bariatric and metabolic surgery as well as upper gastrointestinal surgery. He studied medicine at the University of Basel in Switzerland, where he received his medical education from 2006 to 2012 in one of Europe’s leading academic medical environments.
He began his surgical residency at the University Hospital Basel and further developed his clinical experience at renowned Swiss centers, including St. Claraspital in Basel and Spital Limmattal in Zurich. After obtaining the Swiss board certification in surgery (FMH), he returned to Basel in 2018 as a senior physician (Oberarzt), where he focused on developing modern minimally invasive approaches in bariatric and metabolic surgery.
In 2021, he moved to the United States for scientific training and served as a research fellow at Columbia University in New York, where he conducted research on the metabolic effects of bariatric surgery that extend beyond weight loss.
Since 2022, he has been part of the University Abdominal Center in Basel, one of Switzerland’s leading surgical centers. In 2023, he was appointed Associate Professor of Abdominal Surgery at the University of Basel. In April 2024, he became Head of the Department of Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery, while also leading Switzerland’s largest center for esophageal and gastric surgery.
Since January 2026, he has been practicing at the renowned private clinic Hirslanden Klinik St. Anna in Lucerne, where he continues his clinical and surgical work with a strong focus on minimally invasive and robot-assisted procedures in abdominal surgery.
In his clinical practice, Dr. Kraljević specializes in modern minimally invasive and robotic surgical techniques. Since 2018, he has regularly performed operations using the da Vinci Surgical System, with robotic surgery representing one of his key professional areas of expertise.
Achievements:
Dr. Kraljević is the author of more than 60 scientific publications in leading international medical and surgical journals. Among them is last year’s publication in the prestigious journal JAMA Surgery, focusing on the long-term outcomes of gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy in the treatment of obesity. Detailed information on publications, awards, lectures, and other professional achievements can be downloaded here.
