Claudia Rutt, DKMS CEO

Claudia Rutt has served as chief executive officer of DKMS since its inception in 1991. DKMS was founded as a result of a private initiative when Claudia’s sister–in-law, Mechtild Harf, was diagnosed with acute leukemia.

Claudia has been instrumental in the development of DKMS. Under her leadership, DKMS became the world’s largest marrow donor center in just five years and today still holds this distinction with a growing database of nearly 1.7 million registered donors. As a result, DKMS has matched more than 13,500 donors with patients.

In addition to cultivating DKMS, Claudia helped build DKMS LIFE, formerly known as Aktiv gegen Krebs (Active Against Cancer). Founded in 1995 by the beauty company Lancaster Group, the mission of DKMS LIFE is to organize nationwide cosmetic workshops for women suffering from cancer, offering them support and helping them gain their self-confidence after chemotheraphy and radiation.

Claudia’s determination to help cancer patients, led her to establish DKMS Stiftung Leben Spenden, which helps to develop facilities to improve the care of cancer patients’ and furthermore, concentrate on promoting science and research.

Claudia serves on the board of DKMS and is also the chief executive officer of DKMS Life Science Lab in Dresden, (formerly known as Medical Molecular Diagnostics), a lab with 30 employees who analyize blood samples for donor identification. In 2004, Claudia became chairperson of the board of directors of DKMS Americas.

Additionally, Claudia is a member of the board of directors of the World Marrow Donor Association (WMDA).

Claudia holds a masters degree in business administration from the University of Cologne, where she also received a diploma in economics.

Learn more about DKMS (German Bone Marrow Donor Center Registry).