Lothar Heinz Wieler (born 8 February 1961) is a German

veterinarian A veterinarian (vet), also known as a veterinary surgeon or veterinary physician, is a medical professional who practices veterinary medicine. They manage a wide range of health conditions and injuries in non-human animals. Along with this, vet ...

and

microbiologist A microbiologist (from Ancient Greek, Greek ) is a scientist who studies microscopic life forms and processes. This includes study of the growth, interactions and characteristics of Microorganism, microscopic organisms such as bacteria, algae, f ...

who served as president of the

Robert Koch Institute The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) is a German federal government agency and research institute responsible for disease control and prevention. It is located in Berlin and Wernigerode. As an upper federal agency, it is subordinate to the Federal ...

(RKI) from 2015 to 2023. In this capacity, he advised the German Federal and State Governments on topics of

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...

, especially

infection 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 ...

hazards, and on the containment of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

Early life and education

Wieler was born in Königswinter, Germany. He studied

veterinary medicine Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in animals. Along with this, it deals with animal rearing, husbandry, breeding, research on nutri ...

Free University of Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public research university in Berlin, Germany. It is consistently ranked among Germany's best universities, with particular strengths in political science and t ...

and

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's sixth-oldest university in continuous operatio ...

from 1980 to 1985.CV of Lothar Wieler

Career

From 1998 until 2015, Wieler worked as professor and director of the Institute of Microbiology and Epizootics at the

. During that time, he spent a

sabbatical A sabbatical (from the Hebrew: (i.e., Sabbath); in Latin ; Greek: ) is a rest or break from work. The concept of the sabbatical is based on the Biblical practice of ''shmita'' (sabbatical year), which is related to agriculture. According to ...

at the

Wellcome Sanger Institute The Wellcome Sanger Institute, previously known as The Sanger Centre and Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, is a non-profit British genomics and genetics research institute, primarily funded by the Wellcome Trust. It is located on the Wellcome Ge ...

in Hinxton under the supervision of

Gordon Dougan Gordon Dougan is a Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Cambridge and head of pathogen research and a member of the board of management at the Wellcome Sanger Institute in Cambridge, United Kingdom. He is also a Fellow of ...

. Early in the

COVID-19 pandemic in Germany The COVID-19 pandemic in Germany has resulted in confirmed cases of COVID-19 and deaths. On 27 January 2020, the first case in Germany was confirmed near Munich, Bavaria. By mid February, the arising cluster of cases had been fully containe ...

, Wieler launched Europe’s first large-scale

SARS-CoV-2 Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), the respiratory illness responsible for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had a ...

antibody testing in an effort to help researchers assess infection rates and monitor the spread of the virus more effectively; the study was carried out jointly by the Robert Koch Institute,

Charité The Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Charité – Berlin University of Medicine) is one of Europe's largest university hospitals, affiliated with Humboldt University and Free University Berlin. With numerous Collaborative Research Cen ...

and the

Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research The Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) is a publicly funded research institute based in Braunschweig, Germany. HZI is a member of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres, the largest non-university scientific organisation in ...

. In addition to his role at RKI, Wieler was a member of 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 ...

's Strategic and Technical Advisory Group for Infectious Hazards (STAG-IH) since 2018. In 2020, he chaired the WHO's Committee for the Review of the International Health Regulations. Also in 2020, he was appointed to the Global Leaders Group on Antimicrobial Resistance, co-chaired by Sheikh Hasina and

Mia Mottley Mia Amor Mottley, (born 1 October 1965) is a Barbadian politician and attorney who has served as the eighth prime minister of Barbados since 2018 and as Leader of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) since 2008. Mottley is the first woman to hold ...

. Since 2023, Wieler has been working at the

Hasso Plattner Institute The Hasso Plattner Institute (Hasso-Plattner-Institut für Digital Engineering gGmbH), abbreviated HPI, is a German information technology Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, an ...

Other activities

* Virchow Prize for Global Health, Member of the Council (since 2022) *

(WHO), Member of the European Advisory Committee on Health Research (since 2018) * Global Research Collaboration for Infectious Disease Preparedness (GloPID-R), Member of the Scientific Advisory Board (since 2016) * Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications, Member of the Board of Trustees * Robert Koch Foundation, Member of the Scientific Advisory CouncilScientific Advisory Council
Robert Koch Foundation.

Awards

* 2024 Officer's Cross of the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wieler, Lothar Living people 1961 births German veterinarians German microbiologists People from Königswinter 21st-century German scientists Free University of Berlin alumni Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni Academic staff of the University of Ulm Academic staff of the University of Giessen German Catholics Scientists from Berlin COVID-19 pandemic in Germany Members of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Robert Koch Institute people