Prof. Dr. Mathias Heikenwälder is a trained molecular biologist, with expertise in immunology and a strong link to translational research evoked by 10 years of work and expertise in a Pathology Institution (Clinical Pathology, University Hospital Zurich). Since October 2015 he is Department head at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) in Heidelberg focusing on the link between chronic inflammation and cancer. Since October 2022 he is director of the M3 Research Center, University Tübingen. Prof. Heikenwälder publishes his work in high-ranking journals and has established himself as an international leader in the field of liver cancer. Mathias Heikenwälder is the third most frequently cited German-speaking researcher in the field of cell biology in the last years and was one of the Highly Cited Researchers (Cross Fields) (Web of Science Group) in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024. Not only have his publications been widely cited by the research community, but they have also shifted fatty liver and liver cancer research in new directions - relevant to the day-to-day management of patients with fatty liver or liver cancer.