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Benjamin Schuster-Böckler

Benjamin Schuster-Böckler

Associate Professor

I head the computational genomics group at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research.

My group studies the systemic genomic changes that accompany the formation of cancer. For example, in previous work I established that epigenetic histone modifications have a profound influence on the mutational landscape in cancer cells. More recently, my lab analysed the influence of different DNA modifications on mutability, and described how DNA replication changes the distribution of mutations in cancer genomes. We continue to work on methods to identify new carcinogenic mechanisms and find ways to improve cancer prevention.

More recently, my group was closely involved in the development of TAPS, a novel method for measuring epigenetic DNA methylation at base resolution. This technology can be applied to tumour samples to better understand cancer-associated genetic and epigenetic changes. It is also highly suited for diagnostic applications in the context of circulating cell-free DNA. We are involved in numerous clinical trials, e.g. in oesophageal and liver cancer, to test how TAPS can improve early cancer detection and treatment stratification.