Stefan Pfister

Stefan Pfister co-developed the Heidelberg brain tumor methylation classifier, a transformative diagnostic tool that uses genome-wide DNA methylation profiling to classify central nervous system tumors into over 100 molecularly defined entities, many of which were not recognized by conventional histopathology. His work on medulloblastoma molecular subgroups defined by distinct methylation landscapes helped reshape WHO brain tumor classification. He has been central to the discovery of histone H3 K27M mutations in diffuse midline glioma, linking histone mutations to specific methylation reprogramming. His classifier has been adopted worldwide as the standard of care for CNS tumor molecular diagnostics.