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Horst Zitzelsberger
Helmholtz Munich | ©Matthias Tunger

Prof. Dr. Horst Zitzelsberger

Head Research Unit Radiation Cytogenetics

“My vision is a comprehensive understanding of molecular landscapes of human tumors to support precision cancer treatment and to improve clinical outcomes.”

“My vision is a comprehensive understanding of molecular landscapes of human tumors to support precision cancer treatment and to improve clinical outcomes.”

Academic Career and Research Areas

Horst Zitzelsberger received his diploma in human genetics and earned his doctorate in biology.

His scientific career started at the LMU at the Radiobiological Institute as scientific assistant in 1995. A major focus were molecular mechanisms and markers of radiation-induced carcinogenesis. 2001 he took over the leadership of the research group Cytogenetics at the Helmholtz Zentrum München. At the same time he habilitated at the Medical Faculty of the LMU Munich in radiobiology and was appointed as Associated Professor in 2008. In parallel, he became acting director of the Institute of Molecular Radiobiology and expanded his research focus to include translational radiation oncology mainly in the field of head and neck cancer. Until now he is head of the Research Unit Radiation Cytogenetics and implemented together with Kristian Unger multi-omics approaches and translational bioinformatics in the research field. A joint clinical cooperation group with the Department of Radiation Oncology at the LMU (director: Claus Belka) strengthened the focus on clinical cohorts and personalized cancer treatment strategies.

Fields, skills and expertises

Molecular CytogeneticsMulti-Omics studiesTranslational Radiation OncologyPrognostic markersTherapeutic stratification and targets