Claudia Daubenberger Appointed Professor at the University of Basel

Daubenberger was appointed titulary professor by the University of Basel on 30 May 2018, together with 11 other colleagues at the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Medicine. Daubenberger’s research focuses on evaluating malaria vaccine development approaches in sub-Saharan Africa and on understanding the immunology of host-pathogen interactions in East- and West-African human populations.  

“Claudia Daubenberger’s research has deepened our understanding of immune responses against malaria and other infectious diseases of poverty, which provides a foundation to develop markers for protection against exposure and immunisation.” said Jürg Utzinger, Director of Swiss TPH. “Her professorship will further intensify research at the interface of infection and immunity.”

Research focus on malaria immunology

After studying veterinary medicine at the Free University of Berlin, Daubenberger pursued a doctoral thesis in immunology at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Hannover. She then moved to Kenya, where she researched vaccine development against the East Coast fever, a tick-borne cattle parasite. In 1996, she began her work at Swiss TPH in Basel with a focus on vaccine development against malaria. In collaborations with partners, she has contributed to the development of clinical and laboratory based research capacities in Tanzania and Equatorial Guinea.  

“We have just started to understand human immunity in the context of chronic infectious diseases and I am thrilled to contribute to this research as professor at the University of Basel.” said Daubenberger.

Swiss TPH’s work in Clinical Immunology

The Clinical Immunology unit at Swiss TPH focuses on systems immunology-based approaches within the framework of phase I to III clinical trials. The aim is to identify surrogates of protection against malaria and tuberculosis in experimental vaccine trials and in controlled human infection studies.