Franziska Wachter

Franziska Wachter is currently an Instructor in Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and an Attending-Physician in the Pediatric Stem Cell Transplant Division at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Boston Children's Hospital. Her work focuses on novel therapeutic approaches for difficult-to-treat myeloid malignancies.

• Education: MD from Ludwig Maximilians University Munich, Germany
• Training: Residency at Boston Children’s Hospital/Boston Medical Center; Pediatric Hematology, Oncology, and Stem Cell Transplant Fellowship at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Boston Children's Hospital

Research Interests: Franziska’s research spans apoptosis signaling, chemoresistance mechanisms, and BCL-2 family protein biology, with a focus on BAX activators and p53-reactivating stapled peptides. Her work bridges pediatric oncology, drug development, and structural biology, aiming to translate findings into clinical trials for myeloid malignancies.

Professional Background: She conducted graduate studies in Irmela Jeremias’ laboratory at LMU/Helmholtz Center Munich, Germany, on chemoresistance, followed by postdoctoral work in Loren Walensky’s lab at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. There, she characterized BAX activators and validated novel cancer therapeutics.