Biography
Dr Martin Kaiser is Team Leader of the Myeloma Molecular Therapy Group at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, and Honorary Consultant Haematologist at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust. He is a tenured Faculty member and Reader in Molecular Haematology within the ICR’s Division of Genetics and Epidemiology.
Dr Kaiser is also a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathology and of the Royal College of Physicians and an Honorary Reader (Privatdozent) at Charité University Medicine Berlin, Germany.
He graduated with a degree in medicine from the University of Aachen (RWTH), Germany, where he also obtained an MD in Pathology for research on multiple myeloma microenvironment interactions.
Dr Kaiser specialised in Haemato-Oncology at Charité University Medicine Berlin, Germany where he also pursued research in multiple myeloma and leukaemia. He was awarded a research fellowship by DFG (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft) and joined the ICR for a postdoctoral research project in myeloma epigenetics.
His main research interest is the molecular characterisation of multiple myeloma, an immune cell cancer of the bone marrow, with the aim of designing gentler therapies tailored to patients’ needs. A particular focus of his work is high-risk myeloma.
In collaboration with Dr Christina Messiou at The Royal Marsden Hospital and the ICR he is investigating the connection between molecular genetics and disease presentation using advanced functional, diffusion-weighted MRI imaging technology.
Dr Kaiser is chief investigator of the national OPTIMUM trial, one of the first trials to offer tailored therapy for patients with molecular high-risk myeloma. He is vice chair of the UK NCRI group for national myeloma trials, the UK Myeloma Research Alliance (UKMRA), and executive board member of the UK Myeloma Society.
Martin became the first Jacquelin Forbes-Nixon Research Fellow. This was announced by the David Forbes-Nixon Charitable Foundation who are funding research to find a cure for myeloma. The establishment of the Fellowship marks a significant milestone in working towards achieving this goal.