Alexandra Müller is a physician-scientist specializing in pediatrics with advanced clinical training in pediatric hematology and oncology. Her work focuses on improving cancer care for children in fragile settings. After completing her fellowship at the University of Freiburg Medical Center, she became a senior consultant and co-lead of the Pediatric Hematology and Oncology Outpatient Clinic at the University Children's Hospital in Freiburg in May 2024.
In addition, Müller has served as the medical director of the SAFER Ukraine collaborative since May 2022. The Supporting Action for Emergency Response (SAFER) Ukraine collaborative was launched under the leadership of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in February 2022 to address the needs of pediatric hematology-oncology patients affected by the war in Ukraine. In her role as medical director, she coordinates the medical evacuation and treatment of pediatric cancer patients displaced by the war in Ukraine, establishing a standardized two-step triage pathway with a dedicated triage hub in Poland, and overseeing the international referral of over 1,700 children with cancer.
Her research aims to improve pediatric cancer care in fragile settings, and she has contributed to several peer-reviewed publications on the SAFER Ukraine initiative. She leads the Following Outcomes of Children with Catastrophic Disease in Ukraine Study (FOCUS), an international follow-up study initiated in 10 countries assessing the impact of the war on cancer care and informing care models for crisis environments. Müller also heads the development of the SAFER Toolkit, a framework for emergency cancer care in humanitarian crises, which was used to inform the implementation of the emergency response effort for pediatric cancer patients in Gaza in October 2023.
In 2024, Müller joined the Board of Directors of the Institute of Cancer and Crisis (ICC), an organization focused on supporting cancer care in fragile settings. She is also an active member of the World Health Organization’s Cancer in Crisis Network, contributing to global policy and emergency response planning for oncology care in conflict zones.
Müller is passionate about addressing the needs of and improving the care of children with cancer in fragile settings. She acknowledges the increasing importance of this topic, driven by armed conflicts and climate change, and has enrolled in the Master of Global Child Health program to further strengthen her skills to effect meaningful change in this field.
Hometown: Mönchengladbach, Germany
Education:
2021 - Fellowship in pediatrics - University of Freiburg Medical Center
2016 - MD - Albert-Ludwigs-University
Publications:
Agulnik A, Kizyma R, Salek M, Wlodarski MW, Pogorelyy M, Oszer A, Yakimkova T, Nogovitsyna Y, Dutkiewicz M, Dalle JH, Dirksen U, Eggert A, Fernández-Teijeiro A, Greiner J, Kraal K, Mueller A, Sramkova L, Zecca M, Wise PH, Mlynarski W; SAFER Ukraine Collaborative. Global effort to evacuate Ukrainian children with cancer and blood disorders who have been affected by war. Lancet Haematol. 2022 Sep;9(9):e645-e647. doi: 10.1016/S2352-3026(22)00259-9. PMID: 36055331.
Salek M*, Mueller A*, Alanbousi I, Cepowska Z, Dutkiewicz M, Earl J, Evseev D, Kizyma R, Kliuchkivska K, Kolodrubiec J, Matczak K, Nogovitsyna Y, Oszer A, Pogorelyy M, Raciborska A, Rasul S, Sokolowski I, Sopilnyak A, Vinitsky A, Wlodarski MW, Wobst N, Yakimkova T, Rodriguez-Galindo C, Wise PH, Mlynarski W, Agulnik A; SAFER Ukraine Collaborative. Development of a centralised triage centre for children with cancer and blood disorders in response to the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. Lancet Oncol. 2023 Dec;24(12):1315-1318. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(23)00456-4. PMID: 38039989.
Mueller A*, Salek M*, Oszer A, Evseev D, Yakimkova T, Wlodarski M, Vinitsky A, Kizyma R, Pogorelyy M, Zuber M, Escalante J, Lipska E, Fendler W, Nowicka Z, Szyszka A, Kacharian A, Rodriguez-Galindo C, Wise PH, Agulnik A, Mlynarski W; SAFER Ukraine collaborative. Retrospective comparative analysis of two medical evacuation systems for Ukrainian patients affected by war. Eur J Cancer. 2024 Oct;210:114271. doi: 10.1016/j.ejca.2024.114271. Epub 2024 Aug 8. PMID: 39232428
Casolino R, Sullivan R, Jobanputra K, Abdel-Wahab M, Grbic M, Hammad N, Kutluk T, Melnitchouk N, Mueller A, Ortiz R, Paez D, Shamieh O, Tamamyan G, Vulpe H, Mikkelsen B, Ilbawi A, Slama S. Integrating cancer into crisis: a global vision for action from WHO and partners. Lancet Oncol. 2025 Jan;26(1):e55-e66. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(24)00522-9. Epub 2024 Dec 18. PMID: 39708820.
Espinoza P, Rice HE, Wise PH, Bhakta N, Mueller A, Yakimkova T, Force LM, Smith ER, Agulnik A. The impact of armed conflict on global patterns of childhood cancer. Lancet Oncol. 2025 Apr;26(4):421-424. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(24)00559-X. PMID: 40179905.