Advancing oncology and haematology with Artificial Intelligence
Freiburg, 31/03/2026
Since 1 October 2025, Junir Prof. Dr. Maria Kalweit has held the newly established CRIION Professorship for Bioinformatics: Artificial Intelligence for Oncology Research at the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Freiburg. In this interview, the computer scientist explains how AI methods can support personalised cancer therapy and what interests her outside of her research.
What excites you about your research?
What I particularly appreciate about my research is that it combines computer science with specific medical applications. Through interdisciplinary collaboration with doctors, biologists and engineers, my work contributes to faster and better cancer detection, the development of predictive models for disease progression and the optimisation of personalised therapies. It is precisely this connection that I love about my research.
What solutions do you find in your research for current and future challenges?
One of the main difficulties in oncology lies in the enormous molecular and clinical diversity of cancer. This heterogeneity makes diagnosis and treatment very challenging, especially as increasingly targeted and personalised treatments are being sought. On the one hand, this leads to a high density of information per patient, and on the other hand, to fragmentation of the data, as there are only a few directly comparable cases. Together with my team, I am developing robust and efficient AI methods that work reliably even with small, heterogeneous data sets. In addition, they must be explainable so that doctors can understand the results and incorporate them into their decisions. In the long term, I see AI as a reliable support in personalised medicine. We also use AI for the development of new therapeutics by suggesting promising candidates with the aid of computers and controlling experimental processes in a more targeted manner.
What advice would you like to give your students?
Stay calm and don’t give up, even if studying and research are sometimes difficult. It’s important not to work alone, but to develop solutions together. It’s also worth looking beyond your own horizons, because the best ideas often arise at interfaces.
My own path showed me early on that there is a lot to learn. I started out at Realschule (secondary school) in the town of Emmendingen and climbed step by step to become a professor. There were many ups and downs along the way, and often I had to persevere – which makes it all the more wonderful and important to have friends and a great team by your side.
What topics are you currently most interested in outside of your research?
Outside of my research, my family is my main focus. I spend a lot of time playing, learning and discovering with my four-year-old daughter. That doesn’t leave much room for anything else, and balancing this with my career is often challenging, but for me there is nothing better.