Combining medical training as a hematologist with a doctoral degree, Dr. Wiestner’s goal is to align his research in lymphoid malignancies as closely as possible with clinical translation. Using samples of blood, bone marrow, and lymph nodes collected from patients during clinical trials for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and the related mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), he aims to improve therapeutic strategies by identifying the critical molecular drivers of disease pathogenesis and understanding the impact of existing therapies on tumor cell stress responses and the development of drug resistance.