Alexander obtained his M.D. degree from the Charité – Medical University Berlin. Subsequently he worked as a research fellow and earned a Ph.D. in Cancer Biology and Genomics at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. He is currently working as a resident physician in medical oncology at the University Hospital Zurich (USZ).

In his previous research he studied cellular differentiation processes (Miki and Ring et al., Tissue Eng, 2011; Ring et al., Stem Cell Rev., 2014) and developed a keen interest in the role of stem cells in cancer biology. After graduating from medical school, he received a CIRM Clinical Research Fellowship and focused on therapeutic approaches targeting breast cancer stem cells (CSCs) (He et al., Int J Cancer, 2014; Ring et al., Cancers, 2018; Ring et al., BMC Cancer, 2020). During this time, he also investigated the role of CTCs as liquid biopsies and predictive biomarker surrogates in metastatic breast cancer (Ring et al., Oncotarget, 2015; Lang and Ring et al., Ann Surg Oncol, 2018; Porras et al., Oncotarget, 2018; Kaur et al., Br. J. Canc., 2021).

Alexander is currently involved in establishing a translational liquid biopsy program for precision oncology at the USZ. In his postdoctoral work at the Aceto lab he will focus on CTCs as precursors of micrometastatic disease and investigate mechanisms and therapeutic targeting strategies of tumor dormancy with the ultimate goal of moving CTCs towards broad clinical application.