Hasso-Plattner-Institut
Prof. Dr. Lothar H. Wieler
 

Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. mult. Lothar H. Wieler

Head of the Chair, Professor for Digital Global Public Health

Phone:+49-(0)331 5509-165
E-Mail:Lothar.Wieler(at)hpi.de
Room:G.2.2.23
Profiles:TwitterLinkedIn | Orcid

Profile & Commitments

Lothar H. Wieler, a veterinarian by training, is microbiologist and global public health expert. His initial research focused on the molecular pathogenesis, genomic surveillance and evolution of infectious agents, in particular zoonotic pathogens and antibiotic-resistant bacterial agents. Based on this experience, he extended his research on public and global health, focusing on disease prevention and containment of pathogens with epidemic and pandemic potential. In addition to respiratory pathogens, he concentrates on antibiotic-resistant bacterial infectious. In the future, Wieler will extend his research on the prevention of non-communicable diseases, conducting research in the field of digital health, focusing in particular on global public health issues. His goal is to reduce health inequalities by promoting digital public health, at local, national and international levels, with a particular focus on low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

Research Focuses

  • data-driven digital applications for Global Public Health
  • public health communications
  • disease prevention
  • access to digital health

Academic and Professional Career

  • since April 2023 Speaker of Digital Health Cluster, Chair Digital Global Public Health at Hasso-Plattner-Institute, Potsdam Germany
  • 2015 - 2023 President, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Berlin, Germany
  • 2012 Sabbatical, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Hinxton, Cambridge, UK
  • 1998 - 2015 University Professor and Executive Director, Institute for Microbiology and Epizootics Department of Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin (FU), Berlin, Germany
  • 1997 Veterinary Specialist for Microbiology
  • 1996 Habilitation in the field of Infectious Diseases and Animal Hygiene, Department of Veterinary Medicine, Justus-Liebig-University Gießen, Gießen, Germany
  • 1996 Sabbatical, Center for Vaccine Development (CVD), University of Maryland at Baltimore (UMAB), Baltimore, USA
  • 1990 - 1998 Research Assistant, Institute for Hygiene and Infectious Diseases of Animals, Justus Liebig University Gießen, Gießen, Germany
  • 1988 Doctorate, Institute for Hygiene, Medical Microbiology and Epidemiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU) Munich, Germany
  • 1987 - 1990 Research Assistant, Department of Pathology, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany
  • 1982 - 1985 Degree in Veterinary Medicine, FU Berlin and LMU Munich, Munich, Germany

Functions in Scientific Societies and Committees

  • 2021 – 2023 Member, COVID-19 expert advisory council, German Federal Government
  • 2016 - 2021 Senator, Section Veterinary Medicine, German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, Germany
  • 2016 - 2019 Member, Scientific Advisory Board, Global Research Collaboration for Infectious Disease Preparedness (GloPID-R)
  • 2015 - 2023 Guest Member, Scientific Advisory Board, Leibniz Institute of Virology, Hamburg, Germany
  • 2015 – 2023 Guest Member, Scientific Advisory Board, Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNITM), Hamburg, Germany
  • 2015 – 2023 Guest Member, Scientific Advisory Board, Research Center Borstel, Germany
  • 2015 - 2023 Guest Member, Scientific Advisory Board, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut (FLI) Greifswald - Insel Riems, Germany
  • 2012 - 2015 Member, Federal Office for Civil Protection, German Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community (BMI), Germany
  • 2012 - 2014 Chairperson, Specialist group “Zoonoses”, German Society for Hygiene and Microbiology (DGHM), Germany
  • 2011 - 2015 Chairperson, Scientific Advisory Board, FLI Greifswald - Insel Riems, Germany
  • 2011 - 2020 Member, Advisory Council on Military Medicine, German Federal Ministry of Defence (BMVg), Germany
  • 2010 - 2016 Speaker, International DFG Research Training Group 1673 “Functional Molecular Infection Epidemiology”, Germany
  • 2009 - 2014 Member, Board of Directors, German Society of Veterinary Medicine (DVG), Germany
  • 2009 - 2014 Member, Internal Advisory Board, The National Research Platform on Zoonoses, Germany
  • 2008 - 2016 Elected Expert, Specialist Review Board 207 for agriculture, forestry and Animal science, German Research Foundation (DFG), Germany Project Coordination, Membership in Collaborative Research Projects
  • 2008 - 2014 Deputy Spokesperson, Working group “Zoonoses and infectious research”, Technology and Method Platform for Medical Research (TMF), Berlin, Germany
  • 2007 - 2015 Coordinator, BMBF-Network “Food-borne zoonotic infections in humans” (FBI-Zoo), Germany

Journal Editor

  • since 2009 Associate Editor, Gut Pathogens
  • 2003 - 2019 Publisher, “Berliner und Münchener Tierärztliche Wochenschrift”, Germany

Honours and Awarded Memberships

  • 2022 Honorary Doctorate, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, LMU, Munich, Germany
  • 2022 Wilhelm Boden Medal, District Administration of Altenkirchen district, Germany
  • 2022 Golden Needle of Honour, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
  • 2021 Ferdinand Cohn Medal, DGHM, Germany
  • 2021 Albrecht von Graefe-Medal, Berliner Medizinische Gesellschaft, Germany
  • 2021 Honorary Doctorate, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
  • 2021 Honorary Doctorate, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Germany
  • 2016 Walter Frei Award, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
  • 2010 Member, German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, Germany
  • 2007 Main Award, German Society for Hygiene and Microbiology (DGHM), Germany
  • 1997 Young Talent Award, German Veterinary Society (DVG), Germany

Teaching

Bridge Modules:

1) Healthcare Fundamentals and Digital Health Trends

2) Health and Disease Core Competencies

Topics covered include:

  • Global Health Principles
  • Infectious diseases
  • Public Health Ethics
  • Health Promotion and Public Health Communication
  • Health inequities
  • Global Health Crises

Selected publications

2024

  • Measuring fairness preferences is important for artificial intelligence in health care. Näher, Anatol-Fiete; Krumpal, Ivar; Antão, Esther-Maria; Ong, Erika; Rojo, Marina; Kaggwa, Fred; Balzer, Felix; Celi, Leo Anthony; Braune, Katarina; Wieler, Lothar H; others in The Lancet Digital Health (2024). 6(5) e302-e304.
     
  • Moving cholera vaccines ahead of the epidemic curve. Memish, Ziad A; Blumberg, Lucille; Al-Maani, Amal Saif; Baru, Rama; Dube, Eve; Gao, George F; Jernigan, Daniel B; Leo, Yee-Sin; Peiris, Joseph Sriyal Malik; Masud, Jakir Hossain B; Wieler, Lothar H; others in The Lancet (2024). 403(10422) 127–129.
     

2023

  • Application areas of artificial intelligence in the context of One Health with a focus on antimicrobial resistance. Irrgang, Christopher; Eckmanns, Tim; Antão, Esther-Maria; Ladewig, K; Wieler, Lothar H; Körber, N; others in Bundesgesundheitsblatt, Gesundheitsforschung, Gesundheitsschutz (2023).
     
  • Establishing Infodemic Management in Germany: A Framework for Social Listening and Integrated Analysis to Report Infodemic Insights at the National Public Health Institute. Boender, T Sonia; Schneider, Paula Helene; Houareau, Claudia; Wehrli, Silvan; Purnat, Tina D; Ishizumi, Atsuyoshi; Wilhelm, Elisabeth; Voegeli, Christopher; Wieler, Lothar H; Leuker, Christina in JMIR infodemiology (2023). 3 e43646.
     
  • Three years into the pandemic: results of the longitudinal german COPSY study on youth mental health and health-related quality of life. Ravens-Sieberer, Ulrike; Devine, Janine; Napp, Ann-Kathrin; Kaman, Anne; Saftig, Lynn; Gilbert, Martha; Reiß, Franziska; Löffler, Constanze; Simon, Anja Miriam; Hurrelmann, Klaus; Wieler, Lothar H; others in Frontiers in Public Health (2023). 11 1129073.
     
  • An appeal for strengthening genomic pathogen surveillance to improve pandemic preparedness and infection prevention: the German perspective. Salzberger, Bernd; Mellmann, Alexander; Bludau, Anna; Ciesek, Sandra; Corman, Victor; Dilthey, Alexander; Donker, Tjibbe; Eckmanns, Tim; Egelkamp, Richard; Gatermann, Sören G; Wieler, Lothar H; others in Infection (2023). 1–7.
     
  • Reflections from the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany: lessons for global health. Wieler, Lothar H; Antão, Esther-Maria; Hanefeld, Johanna in BMJ global health (2023). 8(9) e013913.
     

2021

  • Public trust in institutions in the first half of the Corona pandemic: Findings from the COVID-19 Snapshot Monitoring (COSMO) project. Eitze, Sarah; Felgendreff, Lisa; Korn, Lars; Sprengholz, Philipp; Allen, Jennifer; Jenny, Miriam A; Wieler, Lothar H; Thaiss, Heidrun; De Bock, Freia; Betsch, Cornelia in Bundesgesundheitsblatt-Gesundheitsforschung-Gesundheitsschutz (2021). 64 268–276.
     
  • Socioeconomic differences in the risk of infection during the second SARS-CoV-2 wave in Germany. Hoebel, Jens; Michalski, Niels; Wachtler, Benjamin; Diercke, Michaela; Neuhauser, Hannelore; Wieler, Lothar H; Hövener, Claudia in Deutsches Ärzteblatt International (2021). 118(15) 269.
     
  • Disease surveillance for the COVID-19 era: time for bold changes. Morgan, Oliver W; Aguilera, Ximena; Ammon, Andrea; Amuasi, John; Fall, Ibrahima Socé; Frieden, Tom; Heymann, David; Ihekweazu, Chikwe; Jeong, Eun-kyeong; Leung, Gabriel M; Wieler, Lothar H; others in The Lancet (2021). 397(10292) 2317–2319.
     
  • Functioning of the International Health Regulations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Aavitsland, Preben; Aguilera, Ximena; Al-Abri, Seif Salem; Amani, Vincent; Aramburu, Carmen C; Attia, Thouraya A; Blumberg, Lucille H; Chittaganpitch, Malinee; Le Duc, James W; Li, Dexin; Wieler, Lothar H; others in The Lancet (2021). 398(10308) 1283–1287.
     

2020

  • COVID-19: towards controlling of a pandemic. Bedford, Juliet; Enria, Delia; Giesecke, Johan; Heymann, David L; Ihekweazu, Chikwe; Kobinger, Gary; Lane, H Clifford; Memish, Ziad; Oh, Myoung-don; Schuchat, Anne; Wieler, Lothar H; others in The lancet (2020). 395(10229) 1015–1018.
     
  • Monitoring behavioural insights related to COVID-19. Betsch, Cornelia; Wieler, Lothar H; Habersaat, Katrine in The Lancet (2020). 395(10232) 1255–1256.
     
  • Living with the COVID-19 pandemic: act now with the tools we have. Bedford, Juliet; Enria, Delia; Giesecke, Johan; Heymann, David L; Ihekweazu, Chikwe; Kobinger, Gary; Lane, H Clifford; Memish, Ziad A; Oh, Myoung-don; Ungchusak, Kumnuan; Wieler, Lothar H; others in The Lancet (2020). 396(10259) 1314–1316.
     

2018

  • Antibiotic resistance, the 3As and the road ahead. Antão, Esther-Maria; Vincze, Szilvia; Hanke, Regina; Klimmek, Lukas; Suchecka, Katarzyna; Lübke-Becker, Antina; Wieler, Lothar H in Gut pathogens (2018). 10(1) 1–9.
     
  • Perceptions and attitudes regarding antibiotic resistance in Germany: a cross-sectoral survey amongst physicians, veterinarians, farmers and the general public. Schneider, Sandra; Salm, Florian; Vincze, Szilvia; Moeser, Anne; Petruschke, Inga; Schmücker, Katja; Ludwig, Norman; Hanke, Regina; Schröder, Christin; Gropmann, Alexander; Wieler, Lothar H; others in Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (2018). 73(7) 1984–1988.