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:	Twitter \| LinkedIn \| 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.

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

Head of the Chair, Professor for Digital Global Public Health

Profile & Commitments

Research Focuses

Academic and Professional Career

Functions in Scientific Societies and Committees

Journal Editor

Honours and Awarded Memberships

Teaching

Selected publications

Contact

Chair

Scientific Lead

Executive Assistant

Visiting address:

News

03.05.2024 | We need more research on fairness preferences in AI in medicine

13.03.2024 | Prof. Lothar H. Wieler is awarded the Order of Merit

19.12.2023 | How AI can reduce the global health burden

18.12.2023 | Open House at the Digital Health Cluster

11.09.2023 | Was hilft gegen die zunehmende Antibiotika-Resiszenz, Lothar Wieler?

12.06.2023 | Prof. Lothar H. Wieler zu Gast im HPI-Podcast „Neuland“

Events

| Digital Health Partnership Information Session

| HPI/Mount Sinai Partnership Call for Proposals