Dr. Anton Berns studied biochemistry at the University of Nijmegen and received his Master degree in 1969 and his PhD in 1972 from that same university, both with honours.

He did his postdoctoral training in the laboratory of Rudolf Jaenisch. In 1976 he returned to the University of Nijmegen where he explored proviral insertional mutagenesis as a mean to identify new oncogenes.

In 1985 Dr. Berns was appointed staff scientist at the Netherlands Cancer Institute, and in 1986 he became head of the Division of Molecular Genetics of the Institute.

In 1999 he was appointed Director of Research and Chairman of the Board of Directors of The Netherlands Cancer Institute - Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital.

He is currently a member of several academies: The Netherlands and European Academy of Sciences, The European Academy of Cancer Science, EMBO, the American Association for Cancer Research and the American Academy of Sciences and is President (2016-2018) of the European Association for Cancer Research (EACR).

His laboratory work deals with defining the genetic aberrations that are critical for lung tumour development and identifying targets for intervention. Genetically engineered mouse models are used to unravel the specific mechanisms of action of the various lesions found in lung cancer in man.

ESMO 2017 Congress

Anton Berns was the Basic Science Track Co-Chair of the ESMO 2017 Congress, which took place in Madrid, Spain (8-12 September 2017).

View ESMO 2017 Congress meeting resources