Prof Keilholz attended Medical School in Germany at the University of Mainz, and at the University of Heidelberg where he took his final exam and earned the licence as physician in 1983 and the Doctoral degree in clinical Medicine in 1984.

After his residency at the University of Heidelberg, Dept. of Medicine, Division of Metabolism and Endocrinology and at the Division of Haematology, Oncology and Rheumatology, where he was later appointed attending physician, he earned the Board certification for Internal Medicine in 1990 and in 1993 the Board Certification for Haematology and Medical Oncology at the Ärztekammer Nordbaden, Germany.

Since 1997 Prof Keilholz has been Vice-Chair of the Dept. of Medicine III (Haematology, Oncology) at the Charité CBF, Berlin, Germany, where he took responsibility for the Medical Oncology Programme and since 1998 he has been Professor of Medicine, Haematology and Medical Oncology.

From 2008 to 2012 he was Deputy Director of the Charité Comprehensive Cancer Centre, Berlin, Germany and since 2013 he is the Acting Director.

Prof Keilholz is member of the following Societies: EORTC, Head and Neck Cancer Group and the Melanoma Group of which he was Chair (2003-2005); the American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Hämatologie/Onkologie (DGHO) and the Deutsche Krebsgesellschaft, Arbeitsgemeinschaft Internistische Onkologie (AIO). He was Vice President (2002-2004) and President (2004-2006) of the International Society for Biological Therapy of Cancer (iSBTc).

He is ESMO Faculty member (Principles of Clinical Trials and Systemic Therapy, Melanoma, Tumour Immunology and Immunotherapy), he was ESMO National representative (2007-2013), and Annals of Oncology Editorial Board member (2011-2014).

Prof Keilholz is part of the editorial Board of several journals among which: Journal of Clinical Oncology, Journal of Immunotherapy, Melanoma Research, Journal of Translational Medicine, and he publishes in several scientific journals such as Lancet, J Clin Oncology, Blood, Leukemia, Cancer Research, Clinical Cancer Research, Oncogene, Cancer, Eur J Cancer, Br J Cancer, Intl J Cancer, J Clinical Apheresis, Melanoma Research, J Molecular Medicine. Int J of Colorectal Diseases.

Prof Keilholz has a wide experience with investigational therapies.

Since 1984, he has participated in numerous phase I/II and III clinical trials. He has been the responsible physician in more than 20 clinical phase I, II, and III trials covering various disease entities in haematology and medical oncology, with a main focus on head and neck cancer, but also melanoma, sarcoma, lymphomas, multiple myeloma, and carcinomas of the stomach, lung, colon, ovary, and kidney. Many of these trials had integrated academic translational research programmes, some of them very comprehensive.