Using AI to bridge chemistry, proteomics and precision medicine: Prof Bernhard Küster’s research journey

Professor Bernhard Küster, keynote speaker at EACR 2026, talks about his scientific journey from chemistry to chemical proteomics and precision medicine. He reflects on how an interdisciplinary mindset - combining chemistry, biology, and computational science - has shaped his approach to understanding how drugs act on proteins and how this knowledge can inform personalised cancer treatments. He also shares practical advice for early-career researchers on how to embrace interdisciplinarity in their work. Bernhard discusses his team’s pioneering work developing technologies such as Prosit, Decrypt-E and Decrypt-M, and highlights how artificial intelligence is accelerating discoveries in proteomics. He also underscores the vital role of the clinical community in providing well-annotated tumour samples - an essential foundation for meaningful AI-driven cancer research. 🔗 Access transcripts for all our episodes at magazine.eacr.org/podcast