About HIOH

The Helmholtz Institute for One Health (HIOH) in Greifswald was founded in 2021 as a site of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI). In close cooperation with its local founding partners, the University of Greifswald, the University Medical Center Greifswald and the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute Federal Research Institute for Animal Health Greifswald-Riems, the HIOH is dedicated to interdisciplinary research on the interrelationships between human, animal and environmental health.

The HIOH is supported by a Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) of nine internationally renowned experts from diverse disciplines. The Board provides valuable guidance on strategic and scientific matters, helping to shape the institute’s direction. At least once a year, its members meet with HIOH leadership and research teams to exchange on current developments. Additional meetings are held as needed to explore specific topics in greater depth.

Prof Dr Thea Kølsen Fischer, University of Copenhagen, Denmark (chair person)
Prof Dr Teresa M. Coque, Instituto Ramón y Cajal de Investigación Sanitaria, Madrid, Spain
Prof Dr Heinz Feldmann, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, USA
Dr Alpha Kabinet Keita, Gamal Abdel Nasser University of Conakry, Guinea
Prof Dr Dr h.c. mult. Thomas Mettenleiter, One Health High Level Expert Panel (OHHLEP), Greifswald, Germany
Prof Dr Hendrik Poinar, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada
Prof Dr Oliver Pybus, University of Oxford, United Kingdom
Prof Dr Simone Sommer, Universität Ulm, Germany
Prof Dr Andrea Winkler, Technical University Munich, Germany

HIOH’s research is anchored in a global infrastructure and guided by regional priorities. Our headquarters in Greifswald, Germany, hosts state-of-the-art molecular laboratories embedded in a strong local research network. A new research facility is currently under construction and is scheduled for completion in 2027. This will further expand our diagnostic capacities and enable safe work with infectious pathogens. We also operate long-term satellite laboratories in key international locations: at the University Hospital of Bouaké in Côte d’Ivoire, and in the Dzanga Sangha Protected Areas in the Central African Republic. Both labs are fully equipped for sample processing and diagnostics and serve as regional bases for training, outbreak response and long-term health monitoring in close partnership with local institutions.

Geographically, our research is focused on regions where health risks at the human–animal–environment interface are particularly dynamic. In our home region of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, we collaborate with local partners on One Health topics such as wildlife monitoring, antimicrobial resistance and land-use change. In the African tropics, we focus on biodiversity hotspots with a high potential for zoonotic spillover. This includes, amongst others, our long-term engagement in Taï National Park, Côte d’Ivoire, as well as continuous data collection in the Dzanga Sangha region.

Our long-term field presence is complemented by short-term global missions – ranging from ad hoc outbreak response deployments to targeted studies such as historical specimen analysis in Vienna, Austria; waterhole sampling in the Masai Mara, Kenya; or the investigation of ancient soils in Spitsbergen, Norway.