Curriculum Vitae:
Is a Professor of Medicine at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, USA. Dr. Burger received his M.D./Ph.D. degree at Albert-Ludwigs-University in Freiburg, Germany, with subsequent clinical training and board certification in Internal Medicine and Hematology/Oncology at Freiburg University Hospital, before moving to MD Anderson in 2005. In 2006, Dr. Burger received the “Venia legendi” (Habilitation) for Internal Medicine at Albert-Ludwigs-University in Freiburg. Moreover, from 1996 to 1999, Dr. Burger received postdoctoral research training in Hematology and Immunology at the University of California, San Diego. As a clinical and laboratory investigator, Dr. Burger focuses on developing new therapeutic approaches for targeting the microenvironment in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), other B cell malignancies, and acute leukemias. Laboratory research by Dr. Burger’s group characterized B cell receptor (BCR)-associated kinases, such as BTK and PI3 kinases, as therapeutic targets. Dr. Burger serves as a principal investigator on clinical trials which explore these targets in CLL, and has been leading key trials that supported the approval of the BTK inhibitor ibrutinib (Resonate 2: ibrutinib for CLL frontline therapy). For his innovative research, Dr. Burger received several awards, among them, the Arthur Pappenheim Award by the DGHO, a Kimmel Scholar Award, ASCO Young Investigator and Career Development awards, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Scholar award, and the MD Anderson Faculty Scholar Award. Dr. Burger is a regular speaker at EHA and ASH, and has published in the leading Journals in his field.
