Zdenko Herceg

Head of Epigenomics and Mechanisams Branch

Zdenko Herceg is a molecular biologist and Head of the Epigenomics and Mechanisms Branch at the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC/WHO) in Lyon, France. He received his PhD in 1995 from the University of St Andrews in the United Kingdom, working on the oncogenic transformation of human epithelial cells, and was a post-doctoral scientist at the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology in Vienna before joining IARC in 1997. His research addresses epigenetic mechanisms of carcinogenesis, the role of environmental exposures, and the discovery of biomarkers for risk prediction and early detection, including blood-based epigenetic markers for predicting breast cancer. He has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed publications and co-wrote the chapter on the epigenetic epidemiology of cancer in a Springer volume; his work has been funded by the European Union, the US National Institutes of Health and the Gates Foundation. In December 2025 he was elected a member of the Academy of Medical Sciences of Croatia.