Rita Schmutzler appointed new president of German Cancer Aid

Rita Schmutzler is a gynecological oncologist and scientific pioneer in the field of risk-adapted cancer prevention with a focus on familial breast and ovarian cancer. Until 2025, she was director of the Center for Familial Breast and Ovarian Cancer at the University Hospital of Cologne. Rita Schmutzler will take up her presidency on February 1. Previously, from 2021 to 2025, the renowned violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter was president of German Cancer Aid.

"It is a great pleasure and honor for me to take on the role of president of German Cancer Aid and to represent this special organization—which has been doing great work for people with cancer for over 50 years—in public over the next five years. German Cancer Aid not only funds innovative research projects and initiatives in all areas of cancer control. It also provides important impetus that advances research and care, thereby bringing about progress for patients," says Rita Schmutzler. Personally, she is particularly interested in strengthening the networking of care structures, making better use of data in oncology, and cancer prevention. “I have been closely associated with German Cancer Aid for many years and am grateful to be able to work towards its goals with conviction and energy,” says Rita Schmutzler.

"German Cancer Aid has always been committed to fighting cancer in all its forms and to promoting oncological research and patient care in Germany in a pioneering manner. Prof. Rita Schmutzler is a nationally and internationally renowned physician and scientist. I am convinced that, as an expert and visionary, she will convincingly communicate the concerns and goals of German Cancer Aid to the outside world in the interests of those affected and all those who support German Cancer Aid," says Prof. Dr. Charlotte Niemeyer, Chair of the German Cancer Aid Foundation Board.

"I am delighted that we have been able to recruit Prof. Rita Schmutzler as President of German Cancer Aid. Ms. Schmutzler has been advising German Cancer Aid for many years as an honorary member of the expert committee. She also has excellent connections within the scientific community. As a physician, she understands the concerns, fears, and questions that people face when diagnosed with cancer and can bring their concerns to the public's attention. Rita Schmutzler will not only help shape Deutsche Krebshilfe in terms of content, but will also represent it externally as a credible and strong voice for the numerous patients in our country," says Gerd Nettekoven, CEO of Deutsche Krebshilfe.

Rita Schmutzler studied medicine at the University of Bonn from 1979 to 1984, where she also received her doctorate in 1984. From 1985 to 1988, she successfully completed the American medical exams FMGEMS and FLEX. Between 1986 and 1992, Schmutzler completed further training in gynecology and obstetrics at the University of Bonn, where she also took over the establishment and management of the Center for Familial Breast and Ovarian Cancer at the Women's Clinic in 1994. From 1994 to 1997, she received a postdoctoral fellowship from the German Research Foundation (DFG) and qualified as a professor in gynecology and obstetrics in 1997.

In 2003, Schmutzler accepted an endowed professorship from German Cancer Aid for Molecular Gynecological Oncology at the University of Cologne and established Germany's largest center for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer at Cologne University Hospital. Since 2005, she has coordinated the consortium of 23 centers for familial breast and ovarian cancer in Germany.

As the head of several third-party funded research projects on the identification and diagnostic, preventive, and therapeutic significance of breast cancer-associated risk genes, including those funded by German Cancer Aid, the German Research Foundation, and the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology, and Space (BMFTR), Prof. Schmutzler has been one of the leading figures in this field since 1994. On October 9, 2025, she gave her public farewell lecture in Cologne and has since retired.

Rita Schmutzler has received numerous prizes and awards during her professional career, including the 2020 German Cancer Prize from the German Cancer Society and the German Cancer Foundation, the 2020 University Prize for Research from the University of Cologne, the 2021 Innovation Prize of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, and the 2023 German Prize for Cancer Prevention Research from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ).

Since 2010, she has been a founding member of the patient organization BRCA Network – Help with Familial Cancer. The network provides information about familial (“hereditary”) cancer and supports both patients who have been diagnosed with the disease and people who suspect they may have a hereditary predisposition.

About German Cancer Aid

German Cancer Aid was founded over 50 years ago—on September 25, 1974—by Dr. Mildred Scheel. The goal of this non-profit organization is to fight cancer in all its forms. Under the motto "Help. Research. Inform,“ German Cancer Aid promotes projects to improve prevention, early detection, diagnosis, therapy, medical aftercare, and psychosocial care, including cancer self-help. Its tasks also extend to research and health policy activities. It is also a co-initiator of the National Cancer Plan and a partner in the ”National Decade Against Cancer." German Cancer Aid is the largest private donor in the field of cancer control—including cancer research—in Germany. It finances all of its activities exclusively from donations and voluntary contributions from the public.

Previous presidents of German Cancer Aid:

• Dr. Mildred Scheel (1974 to 1985), founder
• Dr. Helmut Geiger (1985 to 1999), honorary president since 2000
• Prof. Dr. Dagmar Schipanski (2000 to 2009), honorary president since 2010
• Prof. Dr. Harald zur Hausen (January to May 2010)
• Dr. h.c. Fritz Pleitgen (2010 to 2021)
• Anne-Sophie Mutter (2021 to 2025)

This message has been modified by the CMMC (K. Heber & D. Grosskopf-Kroiher) and is based on the text by the press and communications team of the University Hospital Cologne (original German version here).