Dimitrios Mougiakakos (47) studied human medicine at Hannover Medical School from 1998 to 2005. He completed his specialist training in hematology and oncology in Freiburg, Regensburg, and Erlangen. Supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG), he conducted research at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm between 2008 and 2011. After returning to Germany, he led a Max Eder Junior Research Group funded by German Cancer Aid and completed his habilitation at Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg. In 2017, he was appointed W2 Professor for Tumor Immunology. Since late 2021, he has served as Chair and Director of the Department of Hematology, Oncology and Cell Therapy at Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg. His research focuses on tumor immunology and cellular immunotherapies. He played a key role in the world’s first CD19 CAR T-cell treatments for systemic lupus erythematosus, myasthenia gravis, and primary immune thrombocytopenia. He has authored more than 200 scientific publications and acquired over €25 million in research funding.