Dr Ole Wichmann

Dr Wichmann is a physician trained in infectious diseases and tropical medicine, and specialized in infectious disease epidemiology. He received in 2002 the Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, and completed in 2003 his Master in Clinical Tropical Medicine in Bangkok. At Robert Koch Institute (RKI) he completed in 2007 the 2‐year German Field Epidemiology Training Program (FETP). In 2008-2009 he was employed by the International Vaccine Institute in Seoul as a medical epidemiologist and project officer.

Since 2009 Dr Wichmann has served as director of the Immunization Unit at RKI, an institution within the portfolio of the German Ministry of Health responsible for disease prevention and control. The unit is in charge of the surveillance and control of vaccine-preventable diseases in Germany and conducts epidemiological research. The unit also hosts the executive secretariat of the German National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (STIKO). In addition to this function, Dr Wichmann is associate professor at Charité University Medicine Berlin and deputy director of the department for infectious disease epidemiology at RKI.

Dr Wichmann's current research interests include the effectiveness and population-level effects of vaccines and evidence-based decision-making for the introduction of new vaccines in national immunization programs.