Stefan Pfister

Pfister studied medicine at the University of Hamburg and the University of Tübingen, where he completed his doctorate in 2002.^[2] He then worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute at Harvard Medical School in Boston.^[3]

He completed his clinical training in paediatrics at the university hospitals in Mannheim and Heidelberg, and at the DKFZ. In 2010, he completed his habilitation in paediatrics at Heidelberg University.^[4]

Since 2012, he has headed the Division of Paediatric Neurooncology at the DKFZ. He has held a professorship at the Medical Faculty Heidelberg since 2014.^[5][6]

In 2016, he initiated the founding of the Hopp Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), the first centre in Germany to combine childhood cancer treatment and research under one roof.^[5][7]

Pfister's research focuses on the genetic and epigenetic characterisation of childhood brain tumours. His work contributed to the development of a methylation-based classification system for brain tumours, which the World Health Organization has adopted in its official tumour classifications.^[8][9]

He is a member of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (elected 2020) and the European Molecular Biology Organization (elected 2022).^[5][6]