CV
Univ. Prof. Dr. med. Roman K. Thomas
Academic education
1994 - 2001: Medical School, University of Cologne
Scientific degrees
04/2008: Habilitation in Experimental Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Cologne
06/2002: M.D., Medical School, University of Cologne, Magna cum Laude: “Detektion von Allelverlusten und molekulare Analyse von zellzyklus-regulierenden Genen und Tumorsuppressorgenen in Hodgkin Reed-Sternberg Zellen” (Supervisor: Jürgen Wolf, M.D., Department I for Internal Medicine, University of Cologne, Head: Volker Diehl, M.D.)
06/2001: Graduation from Medical School, University of Cologne, Summa cum Laude
Scientific career
2017: CMMC associate member (Center for Molecular Medicine Cologne)
2015: DKTK fellow (German Cancer Consortium), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ)
07/12: Founder of Blackfield/ New Oncology AG, acquired by Siemens Healthcare in March 2016
2012 - present: W3 full professorship, Head of the Department of Translational Genomics, University of Cologne
2006 - 11/2012: Independent group leader in the Max Planck Institute for Neurological Research (associated member of the task force “Lung cancer” of the Center for Integrated Oncology and the Department I for Internal Medicine, University of Cologne)
2004 - 2006: Postdoctoral fellow, The Broad Institute of M.I.T. and Harvard & Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge Massachusetts (Group of Professor Matthew Meyerson, M.D., PhD)
2003 - 2004: Postdoctoral fellow, Department I for Internal Medicine and Center for Molecular Medicine (Group of Professor Dr. Jürgen Wolf)
2001 - 2002: Clinical residency (A.i.P.), Department I for Internal Medicine, University of Cologne, Medical Oncology/ Hematology
Honors/ Awards/ Memberships
2017: Max-Delbrück-Preis der Universität zu Köln
2014: Walter und Christine Richtzenhain-Preis, Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum
2014: Glaxo Smith Kline Scientific Award for Clinical Research 2014, GlaxoSmithKline Stiftung Deutschland
2013: Deutscher Krebspreis (German Cancer Award) 2013– Deutsche Krebsgesellschaft
2013: Coordinator of the system medicine Consortium “SMOOSE” in the e:Med program of the Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF)
2012: Coordinator of a large-scale cancer sequencing consortium “Comprehensive molecular and histopathological characterization of small-cell lung cancer” funded by the German Cancer Aid (Deutsche Krebshilfe), which is part of the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC)
2012: Coordinator of the joint research project PerMed funded by the German federal state NRW and the European Union (European Regional Development Fund: Investing in Your Future)
2008: Coordinator of the medical Genome Research Network “Oncogene dependencies” in the NGFNplus program of the Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF)
2007: Young Investigator Award of IASLC
2006: Stipend of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC)
2006: Fellow in Training Award of the American Association for Cancer Research
2005: Mildred-Scheel stipend of the German Cancer Aid
Patents
- Susceptibility to HSP90-inhibitors (P2123 EP S3)
- Novel fusion genes in lung cancer (WO 2015/018918 A1)
Contact Information
Univ. Prof. Dr. med. Roman K. Thomas
Professor (W3) and Director of the Department of Translational Genomics
University of Cologne
Department of Translational Genomics
10 most relevant publications
- Werr L, Bartenhagen C, Rosswog C, Cartolano M, Voegele C, Sexton-Oates A, di Genova A, Ernst A, Kahlert Y, Hemstedt N, Höppner S, Mansuet Lupo A, Pelosi G, Brcic L, Papotti M, George J, Bosco G, Quaas A, Tang LH, Robzyk K, Kadota K, Roh MS, Fanaroff RE, Falcon CJ, Büttner R, Lantuejoul S, Rekhtman N, Rudin CM, Travis WD, Alcala N, Fernandez-Cuesta L, Foll M, Peifer M, Thomas RK, Fischer M. TERT Expression and Clinical Outcome in Pulmonary Carcinoids. Journal of Clinical Oncology. 2025;43(2):214-225. doi:10.1200/JCO.23.02708
- George J, Maas L, Abedpour N, Cartolano M, Kaiser L, Fischer RN, Scheel AH, Weber JP, Hellmich M, Bosco G, Volz C, Mueller C, Dahmen I, John F, Alves CP, Werr L, Panse JP, Kirschner M, Engel-Riedel W, Jürgens J, Stoelben E, Brockmann M, Grau S, Sebastian M, Stratmann JA, Kern J, Hummel HD, Hegedüs B, Schuler M, Plönes T, Aigner C, Elter T, Toepelt K, Ko YD, Kurz S, Grohé C, Serke M, Höpker K, Hagmeyer L, Doerr F, Hekmath K, Strapatsas J, Kambartel KO, Chakupurakal G, Busch A, Bauernfeind FG, Griesinger F, Luers A, Dirks W, Wiewrodt R, Luecke A, Rodermann E, Diel A, Hagen V, Severin K, Ullrich RT, Reinhardt HC, Quaas A, Bogus M, Courts C, Nürnberg P, Becker K, Achter V, Büttner R, Wolf J, Peifer M, Thomas RK. Evolutionary trajectories of small cell lung cancer under therapy. Nature. 2024;627(8005):880-889. doi:10.1038/s41586-024-07177-7
- Malchers F, Nogova L, van Attekum MHA, Maas L, Brägelmann J, Bartenhagen C, Girard L, Bosco G, Dahmen I, Michels S, Weeden CE, Scheel AH, Meder L, Golfmann K, Schuldt P, Siemanowski J, Rehker J, Merkelbach-Bruse S, Menon R, Gautschi O, Heuckmann JM, Brambilla E, Asselin-Labat ML, Persigehl T, Minna JD, Walczak H, Ullrich RT, Fischer M, Reinhardt HC, Wolf J, Büttner R, Peifer M, George J, Thomas RK. Somatic rearrangements causing oncogenic ectodomain deletions of FGFR1 in squamous cell lung cancer. Journal of Clinical Investigation. 2023;133(21). doi:10.1172/JCI170217
- Chen M*, Chen R, Jin Y, Li J, Hu X, Zhang J, Fujimoto J, Hubert SM, Gay CM, Zhu B, Tian Y, McGranahan N, Lee WC, George J, Hu X, Chen Y, Wu M, Behrens C, Chow CW, Pham HHN, Fukuoka J, Wu J, Parra ER, Little LD, Gumbs C, Song X, Wu CJ, Diao L, Wang Q, Cardnell R, Zhang J, Wang J, Le X, Gibbons DL, Heymach J v., Jack Lee J, William WN, Cheng C, Glisson B, Wistuba I, Andrew Futreal P, Thomas RK*, Reuben A*, Byers LA*, Zhang J*. Cold and heterogeneous T cell repertoire is associated with copy number aberrations and loss of immune genes in small-cell lung cancer. Nat Commun. 2021;12(1):6655. doi:10.1038/s41467-021-26821-8 *co-corresponding author
- George J, Walter V, Peifer M, Alexandrov LB, Seidel D, Leenders F, Maas L, Müller C, Dahmen I, Delhomme TM, Ardin M, Leblay N, Byrnes G, Sun R, de Reynies A, McLeer-Florin A, Bosco G, Malchers F, Menon R, Altmüller J, Becker C, Nürnberg P, Achter V, Lang U, Schneider PM, Bogus M, Soloway MG, Wilkerson MD, Cun Y, McKay JD, Moro-Sibilot D, Brambilla CG, Lantuejoul S, Lemaitre N, Soltermann A, Weder W, Tischler V, Brustugun OT, Lund-Iversen M, Helland Å, Solberg S, Ansén S, Wright G, Solomon B, Roz L, Pastorino U, Petersen I, Clement JH, SängerJ, Wolf J, Vingron M, Zander T, Perner S, Travis WD, Haas SA, Olivier M, Foll M, Büttner R, Hayes DN, Brambilla E, Fernandez-Cuesta L, Thomas RK. Integrative genomic profiling of large-cell neuroendocrine carcinomas reveals distinct subtypes of high-grade neuroendocrine lung tumors. Nat Commun. 2018;9(1):1048. doi:10.1038/s41467-018-03099-x
- Peifer M*, Hertwig F, Roels F, Dreidax D, Gartlgruber M, Menon R, Krämer A, Roncaioli JL, Sand F, Heuckmann JM, Ikram F, Schmidt R, Ackermann S, Engesser A, Kahlert Y, Vogel W, Altmüller J, Nürnberg P, Thierry-Mieg J, Thierry-Mieg D, Mariappan A, Heynck S, Mariotti E, Henrich KO, Gloeckner C, Bosco G, Leuschner I, Schweiger MR, Savelyeva L, Watkins SC, Shao C, Bell E, Höfer T, Achter V, Lang U, Theissen J, Volland R, Saadati M, Eggert A, de Wilde B, Berthold F, Peng Z, Zhao C, Shi L, Ortmann M, Büttner R, Perner S, Hero B, Schramm A, Schulte JH, Herrmann C, O’Sullivan RJ, Westermann F*, Thomas RK*, Fischer M*. Telomerase activation by genomic rearrangements in high-risk neuroblastoma. Nature. 2015;526(7575):700-704. doi:10.1038/nature14980 *co-corresponding author
- George J, Lim JS, Jang SJ, Cun Y, Ozretić L, Kong G, Leenders F, Lu X, Fernández-Cuesta L, Bosco G, Müller C, Dahmen I, Jahchan NS, Park KS, Yang D, Karnezis AN, Vaka D, Torres A, Wang MS, Korbel JO, Menon R, Chun SM, Kim D, Wilkerson M, Hayes N, Engelmann D, Pützer B, Bos M, Michels S, Vlasic I, Seidel D, Pinther B, Schaub P, Becker C, Altmüller J, Yokota J, Kohno T, Iwakawa R, Tsuta K, Noguchi M, Muley T, Hoffmann H, Schnabel PA, Petersen I, Chen Y, Soltermann A, Tischler V, Choi C min, Kim YH, Massion PP, Zou Y, Jovanovic D, Kontic M, Wright GM, Russell PA, Solomon B, Koch I, Lindner M, Muscarella LA, la Torre A, Field JK, Jakopovic M, Knezevic J, Castaños-Vélez E, Roz L, Pastorino U, Brustugun OT, Lund-Iversen M, Thunnissen E, Köhler J, Schuler M, Botling J, Sandelin M, Sanchez-Cespedes M, Salvesen HB, Achter V, Lang U, Bogus M, Schneider PM, Zander T, Ansén S, Hallek M, Wolf J, Vingron M, Yatabe Y, Travis WD, Nürnberg P, Reinhardt C, Perner S, Heukamp L, Büttner R, Haas SA, Brambilla E, Peifer M, Sage J, Thomas RK. Comprehensive genomic profiles of small cell lung cancer. Nature. 2015;524(7563):47-53. doi:10.1038/nature14664
- Fernandez-Cuesta L, Peifer M, Lu X, Sun R, Ozretić L, Seidel D, Zander T, Leenders F, George J, Müller C, Dahmen I, Pinther B, Bosco G, Konrad K, Altmüller J, Nürnberg P, Achter V, Lang U, Schneider PM, Bogus M, Soltermann A, Brustugun OT, Helland Å, Solberg S, Lund-Iversen M, Ansén S, Stoelben E, Wright GM, Russell P, Wainer Z, Solomon B, Field JK, Hyde R, Davies MPA, Heukamp LC, Petersen I, Perner S, Lovly CM, Cappuzzo F, Travis WD, Wolf J, Vingron M, Brambilla E, Haas SA, Buettner R, Thomas RK. Frequent mutations in chromatin-remodelling genes in pulmonary carcinoids. Nat Commun. 2014;5(1):3518. doi:10.1038/ncomms4518
- Fernandez-Cuesta L, Plenker D, Osada H, Sun R, Menon R, Leenders F, Ortiz-Cuaran S, Peifer M, Bos M, Daßler J, Malchers F, Schöttle J, Vogel W, Dahmen I, Koker M, Ullrich RT, Wright GM, Russell PA, Wainer Z, Solomon B, Brambilla E, Nagy-Mignotte H, Moro-Sibilot D, Brambilla CG, Lantuejoul S, Altmüller J, Becker C, Nürnberg P, Heuckmann JM, Stoelben E, Petersen I, Clement JH, Sänger J, Muscarella LA, la Torre A, Fazio VM, Lahortiga I, Perera T, Ogata S, Parade M, Brehmer D, Vingron M, Heukamp LC, Buettner R, Zander T, Wolf J, Perner S, Ansén S, Haas SA, Yatabe Y, Thomas RK. CD74–NRG1 Fusions in Lung Adenocarcinoma. Cancer Discov. 2014;4(4):415-422. doi:10.1158/2159-8290.CD-13-0633
- Peifer M, Fernández-Cuesta L, Sos ML, George J, Seidel D, Kasper LH, Plenker D, Leenders F, Sun R, Zander T, Menon R, Koker M, Dahmen I, Müller C, di Cerbo V, Schildhaus HU, Altmüller J, Baessmann I, Becker C, de Wilde B, Vandesompele J, Böhm D, Ansén S, Gabler F, Wilkening I, Heynck S, Heuckmann JM, Lu X, Carter SL, Cibulskis K, Banerji S, Getz G, Park KS, Rauh D, Grütter C, Fischer M, Pasqualucci L, Wright G, Wainer Z, Russell P, Petersen I, Chen Y, Stoelben E, Ludwig C, Schnabel P, Hoffmann H, Muley T, Brockmann M, Engel-Riedel W, Muscarella LA, Fazio VM, Groen H, Timens W, Sietsma H, Thunnissen E, Smit E, Heideman DAM, Snijders PJF, Cappuzzo F, Ligorio C, Damiani S, Field J, Solberg S, Brustugun OT, Lund-Iversen M, Sänger J, Clement JH, Soltermann A, Moch H, Weder W, Solomon B, Soria JC, Validire P, Besse B, Brambilla E, Brambilla C, Lantuejoul S, Lorimier P, Schneider PM, Hallek M, Pao W, Meyerson M, Sage J, Shendure J, Schneider R, Büttner R, Wolf J, Nürnberg P, Perner S, Heukamp LC, Brindle PK, Haas S, Thomas RK. Integrative genome analyses identify key somatic driver mutations of small-cell lung cancer. Nat Genet. 2012;44(10):1104-1110. doi:10.1038/ng.2396
