Speakers - CRDWC 2025

Biography

Prof. Dr. Jochen Decker, MBA (Health Economy), is a distinguished expert in the fields of human genetics, internal medicine, hematology, and oncology, holding dual board certifications (Facharzt) in these disciplines. He earned his MBA in Health Economy from the European Business School in Oestrich-Winkel, Germany. Prof. Decker currently serves as Chair of the Board of EMQN (European Moleculargenetic Quality Network) and continues to teach biology and medicine at the Johannes-Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany, even after his retirement in 2024. For over seven years, he was a key figure at Bioscientia Institute Inc., Ingelheim, Germany, serving as Medical Director and later as CEO.

He began his research career with a doctoral thesis at the Max-Planck Institute for Experimental Medicine in Göttingen in 1982, focusing on immunogenetics and protein chemistry. His extensive training spans prestigious institutions, including the universities of Göttingen, Freiburg, and Mainz, with further postdoctoral work in the USA—two years with Dr. Avery Sandberg at the Cancer Center of the Southwest Biomedical Research Institute and three years as a research and clinical fellow in neurology and genetics at Harvard Medical School.

Prof. Decker’s postdoctoral thesis (Habilitation) explored cancer predisposition genetics, marking the beginning of his four-decade-long commitment to cancer genetics, particularly hereditary cancer syndromes. For the past 25 years, he has focused on translational research in clinical oncology and tumor genetics, as well as diagnostics for cancer, hereditary diseases, and genetic predispositions. He is an active member of numerous scientific and medical societies and advisory boards, including the editorial board of Cancer Genetics and Cytogenetics. With over 40 publications in prestigious journals such as Nature Medicine, PNAS, and Oncogene, and a strong reputation as a frequent and highly regarded speaker at national and international conferences, Prof. Decker continues to shape the landscape of cancer genetics and translational medicine.