What fascinates you about research? 
In my first job as a doctor in a rural general hospital I noticed relatively quickly that simply providing standard care for patients wasn’t enough for me. I felt the need to go beyond everyday hospital work and get to grips with scientific topics. Ultimately, that was the reason for my move to a university hospital: here, there is an opportunity to combine research and hospital work and, as a result, not only to put existing therapies into practice but also to be involved in shaping the medicine of the future – whether through basic research or clinical scientific projects such as studies relating to new medication.

What are you currently researching into?
Our working group is studying extracellular vesicles, which play an important role in cell communication. My particular focus is on lung carcinomas, especially certain subgroups of patients with lung carcinomas who have a heightened risk of brain metastases. I’m trying to find out to what extent tumour cells interact via vesicles with immune cells in the central nervous system and thus facilitate the occurrence of metastases in the brain.

What are your plans for the future?
I was recently able to acquire third-party funding through a programme supported financially by the pharmaceuticals industry, and this funding will make it possible to realise some follow-up and spin-off projects after the end of my Clinician Scientist period. At the beginning of 2025 I was admitted to a consortium in which I am discussing this with international experts to push ahead with joint projects. Looking into the future, I see my clinical focus in thorax oncology, embedded in a translational setting. For me, this would include supervising clinical studies and maintaining close
contacts between research and patient care.

This article was first published in the 2025 annual report of the West German Cancer Center Consortium.