Lothar H. Wieler

Lothar H. Wieler (2016)

Lothar Heinz Wieler (born  February 8, 1961 in Königswinter ) is a German veterinarian and specialist in microbiology . He has been President of the Robert Koch Institute since March 2015 . In this function, he achieved a nationwide reputation during the corona pandemic 2020 .

Life

Wieler grew up in a family with two siblings in the Oberpleis district of Königswinter , the father was a veterinarian, the mother a farmer. After graduating from high school at Oelberg, he studied veterinary medicine from 1980 to 1985 at the Free University of Berlin and the Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich . From 1986 to 1987 he did his military service in the Bundeswehr . He then worked from 1987 to 1990 as a research assistant in the Pathology Department at Ulm University . In 1988 he received his doctorate at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich with the dissertation Experimental investigations on the standardization of bacterial preparations to stimulate the paraspecific defense . From 1990 to 1998 he was a research assistant at the Institute for Hygiene and Infectious Diseases of Animals at the University of Giessen , where he was in 1996 for the subject of infectious diseases and hygiene of animals habilitated . He has been a veterinarian for microbiology since 1997 .

From 1998 he was professor for microbiology and animal diseases in the veterinary medicine department of the Free University of Berlin and managing director at the institute for microbiology and animal diseases. He has been President of the Robert Koch Institute since March 2015 .

Wieler is married and lives with his wife in Berlin. He is the father of two grown daughters.

Act

Lothar Wieler researches the molecular pathogenesis and functional molecular epidemiology of multi-resistant bacterial pathogens , especially zoonotic pathogens, within the species Escherichia coli , Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus pseudintermedius . The focus is on elucidating the mechanisms that contribute to bacterial pathogens being able to successfully infect different hosts. The focus is on the development and application of differentiating molecular typing methods with which zoonotic pathogens are defined within a bacterial species in a first step.

With DNA sequence analyzes , in vitro methods and relevant animal infection models in the natural host (chicken, pig), bacterial factors ( adhesins , invasins , toxins , modulins ) are identified that mediate a successful infection in the respective host . The aim of the research is to develop prophylactic intervention strategies .

Memberships

• Member of the internal advisory board of the National Research Platform for Zoonoses (2009–2014)
• Member of the board of the German Veterinary Medical Society (2009-2014)
• Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Friedrich Loeffler Institute (2011–2015)
• Member of the Protection Commission at the Federal Ministry of the Interior (2012–2015)
• Member ( matriculation no. 7382 ) of the German Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina (since September 28, 2010)
• Member of the Defense Medical Advisory Board in the division of the Federal Ministry of Defense (since April 2011)
• Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the international network Global Research Collaboration for Infectious Disease Preparedness (GloPID-R) (since January 2016)
• Senator of the Leopoldina Veterinary Medicine Section (since February 2016)
• Member of the International Association of National Public Health Institutes Executive Board (since October 2017)

Awards and honors

• Young Talent Award of the German Veterinary Medical Society (1997)
• Main prize of the German Society for Hygiene and Microbiology (2007)
• Walter Frei Prize, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich (2016)

Web links

Commons : Lothar Wieler  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• CV of Lothar H. Wieler on the website of the Robert Koch Institute
• Curriculum vitae of Lothar H. Wieler on the Leopoldina website (PDF)
• Literature by and about Lothar H. Wieler in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Hansjürgen Melzer: Interview with RKI boss Lothar Wieler: “We must not underestimate this virus”. In: General-Anzeiger . April 6, 2020, accessed April 7, 2020 . 
2. ^ BM for health
3. ↑ Lothar Wieler privately on Focus Online , accessed on May 7, 2020.
4. ^ Member entry by Lothar H. Wieler (with picture) at the German Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina , accessed on November 22, 2017.