Johan Giesecke (born 9 September 1949) is a Swedish

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

and

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

Emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

at the

Karolinska Institute The Karolinska Institute (KI; sv, Karolinska Institutet; sometimes known as the (Royal) Caroline Institute in English) is a research-led medical university in Solna within the Stockholm urban area of Sweden. The Karolinska Institute is consist ...

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

. Giesecke was born in Stockholm. He defended his thesis, ''On The Molecular Structure Of Dopaminergic Substances'', at the Karolinska Institute. He trained as an

infectious disease An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable dise ...

clinician A clinician is a health care professional typically employed at a skilled nursing facility or clinic. Clinicians work directly with patients rather than in a laboratory or as a researcher. A clinician may diagnose, treat, and otherwise care for pa ...

and worked with

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

patients during the 1980s. Giesecke received an MSc in

epidemiology Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population. It is a cornerstone of public health, and shapes policy decisions and evidenc ...

from the

London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) is a public research university in Bloomsbury, central London, and a member institution of the University of London that specialises in public health and tropical medicine. The inst ...

in 1992, after which he worked as a

Senior Lecturer Senior lecturer is an academic rank. In the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland, and Israel senior lecturer is a faculty position at a university or similar institution. The position is tenured (in systems with this concep ...

at the school. From 1995 to 2005, Giesecke served as state epidemiologist of Sweden. During a one-year sabbatical 1999-2000 he led a group at the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...

working on the revision of the

International Health Regulations The International Health Regulations (IHR), first adopted by the World Health Assembly in 1969 and last revised in 2005, are a legally binding rules that only apply to the WHO that is an instrument that aims for international collaboration "to pre ...

. After this, he was Chief Scientist at the

European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) is an agency of the European Union (EU) whose mission is to strengthen Europe's defences against infectious diseases. It covers a wide spectrum of activities, such as: surveillance, e ...

from 2005 to 2014. Since 2019 and as of 2022, Giesecke is a member of the Strategic and Technical Advisory Group for Infectious Hazards of the World Health Organization,. He worked as an advisor to the

Public Health Agency of Sweden The Public Health Agency of Sweden ( sv, Folkhälsomyndigheten, abbreviated ''Fohm'') is a Swedish government agency with national responsibility for public health. It falls under the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs and works to promote ...

during the

COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden The COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden is part of the pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). As of , there have been confirmed cumulative cases and deaths with confirmed COVID-19 in Swed ...

Publications

English

*''On The Molecular Structure Of Dopaminergic Substances'' (Balder, 1979) *''Modern Infectious Disease Epidemiology'' (Edward Arnold, 1994)

Swedish

*''Att förebygga HIV: Psykosocialt omhändertagande vid kontaktspårning'' (Studentlitteratur, 1991)

References

External links

Johan Giesecke at Karolinska Institute
1949 births Living people Physicians from Stockholm Swedish epidemiologists Swedish civil servants COVID-19 researchers Academics of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine Academic staff of the Karolinska Institute World Health Organization officials Swedish people of German descent {{Sweden-med-bio-stub