Gerda Egger is a molecular biologist working in the field of medical epigenomics and tumor biology. Using different preclinical models such as tumor-derived organoids, her group aims to understand the causality of epigenetic aberrations in cancer, how epigenetic signatures are generated and how they can be reversed and remodeled. By employing genome-scale analyses to define targets of differential DNA methylation in primary tumors her group has defined epigenetic biomarkers for non-invasive diagnostics. Gerda Egger received her Diploma in genetics and PhD in biochemistry from the University of Vienna (group Christian Seiser), studying the role of epigenetics in early development. Subsequently, she performed a 5-year postdoc, partially funded by a Max Kade Fellowship (ÖAW), in the lab of Peter Jones (USC, Los Angeles) working on DNA methylation in cancer. In 2008, she joined the Department of Pathology at the Medical University of Vienna and was awarded an Elise Richter fellowship (FWF) in 2009. Following her habilitation in 2012, she was awarded Associate Professor in 2014. She also engages in teaching epigenetics at the University of Vienna. In 2016 she co-founded the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute Applied Diagnostics, where she serves as deputy director and key researcher. In 2020 she received a call for a full Professorship in tumor biology at the Medical University of Vienna.