Prof Dreyling studied human medicine at the Heinrich Heine University of Düsseldorf, the Justus Liebig University Giessen, the Eberhard Karls University Tübingen and the Julius-Maximilians-University Würzburg.  After graduating in 1987, he began his internship at the University Hospital Bonn in 1988.  In 1990 he received his doctorate. During the same year he moved to Münster, where he worked first at Clemenshospital, then at the University Hospital.  He then undertook haematology and oncology research from 1992 to 1995 as visiting investigator at the University of Chicago, USA.  Back in Germany he completed his residency at the University Hospital Göttingen and at the Hospital of the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, where he completed his medical exam in 1998.  In 2001 he habilitated on "Molecular genetic and functional characterization of the tumour suppressor region of the chromosomal band 9p21 in haematological cell lines and lymphomas and leukemias" and was appointed a senior physician a year later at the Dept. of Medicine, University Hospital / LMU Munich. 

Since 2007, he is Full professor at the Dept. of Medicine, University Hospital / LMU Munich and he is Head of the Medical Clinic III.

Prof Dreyling’s scientific focus is on the following topics:

Molecular basis of malignant transformation and factors of susceptibility in lymphomagenesis; cell cycle dysregulation in the model disease mantle cell lymphoma; secondary genetic alterations and biological prognostic factors in malignant lymphoma; innovative therapeutical approaches of indolent lymphoma (including targeted and immunotherapeutical strategies).

Prof Dreyling has been/is a member of several medical societies. Since 2005 he has been Member of the ESMO Faculty Group for Haematologic Malignancies. Moreover, he is President of the German Lymphoma Alliance (GLA) and Executive Board member of the European Haematology Association (EHA).

He is co-author of more than 300 scientific papers, and numerous published abstracts in international peer-reviewed journals and book chapters on malignant lymphoma.

He has received many awards, among which: in 2017 the Hermansky Award for Hematology-Oncology, the John Ultmann award in 2021 and the LMU Teaching innovation award (D. Fleischmann) in 2022.