Bernd Giebel studied biology at the University of Cologne and received his PhD in 1996. In 1999, he established an independent research group at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf investigating mechanisms controlling self-renewal and differentiation of human hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs).
In 2008, he moved to the Institute for Transfusion Medicine at University Hospital Essen. Alongside his work on human hematopoiesis, he initiated systematic research on extracellular vesicles (EVs) from 2009 onward, with a focus on mesenchymal stromal cell–derived EVs (MSC-EVs). Beyond methodological and preclinical studies, his group conducted the first clinical application of MSC-EVs, successfully treating a patient with otherwise refractory graft-versus-host disease. In 2023, he was appointed Full Professor of Translational Extracellular Vesicle Research.
He has served as founding president of the German Society for Extracellular Vesicles and as co-chair of the ISCT Exosome Committee (2018–2025).