Reiner Siebert

Reiner Siebert MD is Professor and Head of the Institute of Human Genetics at Ulm University and Director of the Comprehensive Cancer Center Ulm. He is one of the leading genomic pathologists in Europe, with internationally recognised expertise in the molecular characterisation of haematological malignancies, particularly lymphomas and leukaemias, through whole-genome sequencing, epigenome profiling, and integration of multi-omics data. Siebert was a driving force behind the establishment of molecular pathology diagnostics for lymphoma in Germany and contributed foundational work to the WHO classification of haematopoietic neoplasms. His group performed landmark WGS studies of Burkitt lymphoma, mantle cell lymphoma, and chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, defining the driver landscape and uncovering novel recurrent alterations. He co-led the ICGC Malignant Lymphoma project and produced comprehensive analyses of the non-coding genome in lymphoma. His work on chromothripsis in haematological cancers revealed that catastrophic chromosomal rearrangements are common early events in lymphomagenesis and leukaemogenesis, influencing oncogene activation. Siebert has been at the forefront of translating WGS-based diagnostics into clinical practice within the German Cancer Consortium (DKTK) and was instrumental in establishing the Molecular Tumour Board processes that use WGS to guide treatment decisions for haematological and other malignancies.