Benedikt Westphalen studied Medicine and Molecular Biology in Hamburg, Philadelphia, New York, and Bern.

After completing his medical studies, Dr. Westphalen initiated his training in Internal Medicine at the University of Hamburg in 2008. In 2010, he joined the laboratory of Prof. Timothy C. Wang at Columbia University in New York City as a postdoctoral fellow. Here, his research centered on the intricacies of cellular plasticity and the origins of gastrointestinal malignancies.

Subsequently, in 2013, Dr. Westphalen affiliated with the Department of Hematology and Oncology at the University of Munich. In this role, he concentrated on clinical and translational research pertaining to pancreatic cancer and early-phase clinical trials. By 2017, he assumed leadership of the Molecular Tumor Board and subsequently the Precision Oncology Program at the University of Munich. In 2023 he took the clinical leadership position of the newly certified Center for Personalized Medicine at University of Munich.

Throughout his career, Dr. Westphalen has been the recipient of research support from entities such as the German Research Foundation, the German Cancer Aid and the Universities of Hamburg and Munich. His accomplishments have been recognized with young investigator awards from the AACR and GRG/AGA. Dr. Westphalen has authored and co-authored over 100 research papers. On a European level, Dr. Westphalen he has been a member of the EU Commission expert group: Mission Board for Cancer from 2022 onwards.

Dr. Westphalen's joined ESMO in 2017, and was a participant in the ESMO Leaders Generation Programme the following year. In 2019, he joined the ESMO Translational Research and Precision Medicine Working Group and the ESMO GI and Translational Research Faculty. In 2024 Dr. Westphalen became chair of the Translational Research and Precision Medicine Working Group.