Sven Diederichs

Prof. Dr. Sven Diederichs is a Tenured Full Professor (W3) and Division Head of the Division of Cancer Research at the Department of Thoracic Surgery, University Hospital Freiburg. He coordinates the DKTK Program 'Exploitation of Oncogenic Mechanisms' and leads the Center for Translational Cell Research (ZTZ). His work bridges high-throughput functional genomics with precision oncology.

• Education: PhD (Dr. rer. nat.) in Hematology/Oncology, University of Münster; Biochemistry, University of Witten/Herdecke and Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen
• Postdoctoral Training: Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center

His research focuses on functional characterization of cancer-derived mutations, particularly in the FGFR family, to inform targeted therapies. He developed saturation mutational scanning libraries to map drug resistance/sensitivity across 30,000 mutations and explores non-canonical mutations like nonstop extensions and synonymous variants.

Recent work highlights include comprehensive studies on RNA-dependent proteins (R-DeeP), lincNMR's role in nucleotide metabolism, and systematic analysis of mutation-driven tumorigenesis. These efforts aim to establish clinical decision support systems for precision oncology.

Scientific Awards:

• FEBS Anniversary Prize (2016)
• Liver Cancer Research Award (2014)
• Dr. Hella Bühler Prize (2013)
• Binder Innovation Prize (2012)