Drosten was born in Lingen and grew up on a farm in Groß Hesepe [de], Emsland.[2] After graduating from the episcopal college Gymnasium Marianum [de] in Meppen, Drosten initially studied chemical engineering and biology in Dortmund and Münster. From 1994, he studied Medicine at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt am Main and completed his third state examination in May 2000. He did his doctorate at the Institute for transfusion medicine and immunohaematology of the German Red Cross (DRK) blood donation service Hessen in Frankfurt am Main; his dissertation (Dr. med.) on the establishment of a high-throughput system for testing blood donors was rated summa cum laude.