Jonas Bergh

Jonas Bergh is a translational and clinical cancer researcher. He received his MD education at Umeå University and Uppsala University, respectively, followed by internship training from 1980 to 1982 and residencies in Pathology and later Oncology at Uppsala University Hospital. He obtained his PhD in tumour biology in 1984 and was appointed Associate Professor at Uppsala University in 1986.

Initially, his research was focused on lung cancer, and for the last 30 years on a multitude of breast cancer dimensions. He is Senior Professor at Karolinska Institutet (KI); where he was first appointed Professor in Molecular and Clinical Oncology in 2000 (Mimi Althainz´donation 2008-2021), he received in 2010 a Distinguished Professor Award. In parallel, he holds a position as Senior Consultant at the Karolinska Comprehensive Cancer Center/Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm. From 1995 to 2016 he served as Chair of the Swedish Breast Cancer Group.

Jonas Bergh was group leader for many years for a very large research group with some 30+ members; as part of KI´s intentions and foster and stimulate younger scientists, the group has over the last years been divided into five new groups lead by three newly appointed Professors and several independent associate Professors.

During 2018-2025 he was Theme Prefect for Theme Cancer, BioClinicum. He was involved in the accreditation process and served as a Board Member for the Karolinska Comprehensive Cancer Center 2020-2025. He also represented KI in Cancer Core Europe from 2020 to 2023; a joint network of seven leading European cancer centres.

Between 2016 and 2023, he served as Director of the strategic cancer research programme at KI (2016-2019 StratCan/Strategic Cancer Research, Karolinska Institutet; from 2019 Cancer Research KI following the merger of KI Cancer and StratCan). He is both a founding member and a Fellow of the European Academy of Cancer Sciences (EACS). Professor Bergh served as an external consultant to the European Medicine Agency (EMA) from 2004; Core Member of the Scientific Advisory Group (Oncology-Haematology) until 2021. He served as Acting Chair of this group from 2016 to 2021. In addition, he has served as Scientific Advisor to the Swedish Medical Product Agency for many years at at single occasions for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In 2012, he was appointed Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (London, UK) and he has been Visiting Professor at the University of Oxford since 2017.

Bergh has also served as the Swedish representative on the Scientific Council of IARC (“the Cancer Division” of WHO). Since 2012, he serves as a Co-Chair for the global network Early Breast Cancer Trialists’ Collaborative Group (EBCTCG) comprising more than 600 clinical scientists. Bergh has at multiple occasions served as presenter and/or panel member at international consensus meetings for early breast cancer (St. Gallen) and advanced breast cancer (ABC). He received the first ESMO Breast Cancer Award in 2019, and in 2024 he was awarded the Grand Silver Medal at KI for his world‑leading and unique contributions to cancer research. Bergh has served as a member of the Nobel Assembly as well as the Nobel Committee at KI and the Sjöberg Prize Committee.

His h-index is 99 (Web of Science, 2 February 2026), with 51, 793 citing articles, 68, 779 total citations, and an average of 91.1 citations per publication.

Education and training:  
1973-1979 Medical School, Umeå and Uppsala University, Sweden (M.D.)  
1982 Swedish Medical License. 
1979-1984* Tumour Biology, Ph.D. (Dr Med Sci), University of Uppsala, Sweden 
 (*Including internship at Akademiska sjukhuset, Sweden.)  
1980-1982   Internship in Surgery, Internal Medicine, Psychiatry, General Practise, University of Uppsala, Akademiska sjukhuset, Uppsala, Sweden. 
1982-1985  Residency in Pathology, Dept of Pathology, Akademiska sjukhuset, Uppsala, Sweden. 
1985-1988  Residency in Medical- and Radiation Oncology, University of Uppsala, Akademiska sjukhuset, Uppsala, Sweden. 
1995-1996  Leadership course. 
 
Speciality boards: 
1986 Pathology 
1988 Oncology (Medical and Radiotherapy) 
2009 Clinical Oncology (UK), worked at Dept of Medical Oncology 
 
Present positions:  
2008-   Professor of Oncology (Mimi Althainz´donation 2008-2021), Karolinska Institutet & Senior Consultant Oncology, Karolinska University Hospital and Karolinska CCC (2020-) 
2024-2029 Visiting Professor of Breast Cancer Research, Oxford University 

Previous positions: 
1980-82 Internship, Akademiska sjukhuset, Uppsala, Sweden 
1982-85  Residency in Pathology, Akademiska sjukhuset 
1985-88  Residency in Medical- and Radiation Oncology, Akademiska sjukhuset, Uppsala
1986-  Associate Professor in Experimental Oncology, Uppsala University 
1988-92  Specialist in Oncology, Akademiska sjukhuset, Uppsala  
1989-93 Clinical cancer research position at the Swedish Cancer Society 
1995-09-1996-03 Acting Clinical Head, Dept of Oncology, Akademiska sjukhuset, Uppsala 
1995-98  Member of board/steering committee, Oncological Centre, Uppsala-Örebro region 
1992-98  Consultant in Oncology, Akademiska sjukhuset, Uppsala  
1996-2002  Higher research position at the Swedish Cancer Society 
1999 - Consultant in Oncology, Radiumhemmet, Karolinska University Hospital 
2000-08 Professor of Clinical and Molecular Oncology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm 
2007-09 Scientific Director, Karolinska Oncology 
2009-10 Professor of Breast Oncology (80% Edith Muriel Rickman Chair), Manchester University, Director Manchester Breast Cancer Centre. 
2010-2015  Director BRECT, Karolinska Institutet and County Council 
2011-2018  Chairman (Director) Research and Education Committee, Karolinska Oncology and Cancer Centre Karolinska 
2017-2019 Visiting Professor of Breast Cancer Research, Oxford University 
2016-2023 Director, KI – SFO StratCan (Strategic Cancer Research) 2016-2019. From 2019 Director of Cancer Research KI (following merger of KI Cancer/StratCan 2019). 
2020-2023 Board member Cancer Core Europe 
2019-2024 Visiting Professor of Oncology, Oxford University 
2018-2025 Theme Prefect for the Cancer Theme, Karolinska University Hospital 
2020-2025 Board member Karolinska CCC  
 
Other academic and/or clinical merits: 
Ongoing prospective collaborations with EBCTCG (Co-Chair), GBG, ABCSG and EORTC. Studies on prognostication and therapy prediction, focus on breast cancer. Prospective clinical studies; been active in some 60 prospective clinical studies since more than 25 years, phase I, II, III, IV studies as a principal investigator, co-PI or national coordinator or local PI or local co-PI. 

Distinctions, awards and commissions of trust: 
1986 Year Book of Cancer     
1995-2016 Chairman of the Swedish Breast Cancer Group, SweBCG 
1996-2004 Chairman Scandinavian Breast Group  
1995, 1997 Evaluator for the Commission on behalf of the EU for the BIOMED 
2003 Evaluator 6th Frame Work Programs, EU   
1996-2001 Expert for the Swedish Council on Technology Assessment in Health Care (SBU) 
1998-2023 Panel member and/or speaker or chairman at the St Gallen Consensus conferences, includes all meetings since 1998, every 2nd year since 2001 
1999 Plenary Lecture, ASCO  
1999-2007 Member of a priority committee for the Swedish Cancer Society 
2000- 2022 Scientific advisor Swedish Medical Product Agency 
2000 NIH/NCI consensus meeting on breast cancer  
2002-2008  Member of the Research Board of the Swedish Cancer Society 
2004-2021 Core member (1/9-1/12) of the Scientific Advisory Group Oncology-Haematology, European Medicines Agency (EMA, at that time EMEA) London (cancer drugs are since 2005 only approved by one application to EMA for the EU) 
2007-2009 Member of the Ethics Committee, Karolinska Institutet  
2009 Jan Pontén memorial lecture 
2010-2015 Distinguished Professor Award, Karolinska Institutet (to around 35 professors in total) 
2010-2012 Honorary Professor, Manchester University  
2010- Appointed founding member, European  Academy of Cancer Sciences 
2010-2012  ASCO Educational Committee, Breast Track   
2010, 2012 Invited Educational Lecturer by ASCO 
2011-2021 Speaker and or panel member at the global consensus meeting on advanced breast cancer (ABC), includes the meetings 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2021 
2011-2016  Vice Chairman Scientific advisory group Oncology-Haematology, EMA 
2012- Co-chairman at the EBCTCG network with 620 investigators globally 
2012- Appointed Fellow at the Royal College of Physicians (FRCP, London, UK) 
2012-2018 ESMO / ASCO Global Curriculum Working Group 
2012 BRO prize award  
2012- Elected member of the British Breast Group  
2013-2021 Swedish Board of Health &Welfare. Chairman Breast Cancer National Guidelines, from 2014 by the Regional Cancer Centres (RCC) 
2013- UpToDate Co-author: Prognostive predictive factors - Early breast cancer Wolters Kluwers: “UpToDate is viewed more than 1.7 million times a day”… “evidence based insights and recommendations authored and edited by world-known experts” 
2014  Visiting Professor, Ann Arbor, University of Michigan (one week in June) 
2014-2019 Member of the Ethics Committee, Karolinska Institutet 
2015-2018 Tissue Bank Advisory Council, Breakthrough/Breast Cancer campaign, UK 
2016-2021 January 2016, acting chairman Scientific advisory group Oncology, EMA, London, UK – from March 2019 Amsterdam, the Netherlands 
2016-2019 Scientific Council, International Agency for Research on Cancer, WHO 
2016-2021 Editorial Board Journal of Clinical Oncology 
2016-2022 Advisory Group & Catalyst Grant Committee for Breast Cancer Now, UK  
2016-2019 ASCO, International Affairs Committee 
2016-2022 Member of the prize committee for Sjöbergpriset 
2016-2019 Director, KI, - SFO Cancer (StratCan) 
2017-2022 Member of the Nobel Assembly, elected November 2016 
2019-2021 Nobel Committee  
2019 ESMO- First Breast Cancer Award 
2024 Grand Silver Medal at Karolinska Institutet 
1980ies- Invited to international meetings, educationals as lecturer, chairman, panel member incl. ESMO, ECCO, EBCC, St Gallen, ABC, NIH, FDA, ASCO etc.