Swiss TPH Researcher Emma Hodcroft Named by Nature as 1 of 3 People To Watch in 2025

Emma Hodcroft, group leader at Swiss TPH and assistant professor at the University of Basel, has been named one of three people to watch in shaping science in 2025 by the prestigious journal Nature. She is the co-founder of Pathoplexus, an open-source hub for sharing viral pathogen genomes. Hodcroft was listed alongside Mark Thomson, the next director general of CERN, and US president-elect Donald Trump, the latter for having vowed to overhaul key science agencies such as the National Institutes of Health.

“I am incredibly honoured to be included in Nature's 'Who to Watch in 2025’ list,” said Hodcroft. “At a time when misinformation is rife, it is more important than ever to uphold open science and accessible data, and I am proud to be part of an incredible group of people who are making this possible.”

Emma Hodcroft is a British-American molecular epidemiologist who grew up between Texas and Scotland. She completed her PhD at the University of Edinburgh, studying the heritability of virulence in HIV, before moving to Basel in 2017 to work on the Nextstrain project at the Biozentrum of the University of Basel. Hodcroft joined Swiss TPH as a group leader in 2023 after being awarded a Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) Starting Grant. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Hodcroft became a trusted voice in science communication, appearing regularly on radio, TV, and social media.

“It is terrific to see one of Swiss TPH’s scientists listed by Nature’s ‘Who to Watch in 2025’,” said Jürg Utzinger, Director of Swiss TPH. “Emma and her team’s seminal work with Pathoplexus is a tribute to high-quality, evidence-based, open science within trusted partnership to make a difference in global health.”

Pathoplexus is a community-driven, open-source database for sharing viral pathogen genomic data, promoting fairness, transparency, and global collaboration. It enables rapid virus identification, tracking, and vaccine development and covers viruses like Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever, Ebola Sudan, Ebola Zaire, West Nile Virus and mpox. Pathoplexus is co-led by Swiss TPH in collaboration with the University of Basel, ETH Zurich and the London School for Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and includes members from ten countries and five continents.

"The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the critical importance of open data sharing for tracking viral pathogens and developing treatments and vaccines but it also revealed the roadblocks that can delay or limit access to this vital information,” said Hodcroft. “Pathoplexus promotes open science and global collaboration to effectively tackle both emerging and existing pathogens.”