Ruud H. Brakenhoff, PhD is molecular biologist and chairs the Head and Neck Cancer Biology and Immunology laboratory at the department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery within Amsterdam UMC, the Netherlands. He studied medicine and was graduated at the Radboud University Nijmegen. The same university awarded him in 1992 the PhD title. From 1992 his research interest focused on the molecular pathogenesis of cancer, and he was appointed in 2005 as professor of head and neck cancer genomics. Research questions are ultimately aimed at the improvement of diagnosis and treatment of head and neck cancer, and there is a close interaction with the clinic. He has (co)authored over 200 peer reviewed papers, and introduced models of head and neck carcinogenesis in the literature. His main interest is in fundamental and translational research, studying head and neck cancer in models as well as human patients, and bringing new molecular findings to the clinic.