Prof. Dr. Niklaus Labhardt, MD, DTM&H, MIH

Niklaus Labhardt is a physician trained in Switzerland, Cameroon and Lesotho, specialized in Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine with a Master in International Health. He currently holds a position as senior infectious disease doctor at the University Hospital of Basel, Switzerland and leads the research group "HIV and Chronic Disease Care" at the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute.

His research group's work embraces clinical, epidemiological, molecular and implementation research focusing on HIV and comorbidities in Lesotho and other settings in Southeastern Africa. He is the sponsor/chief-investigator of several published or ongoing randomized controlled trials addressing questions around community-based HIV testing and care, improvement of the care-cascade, cost-effective differentiated service delivery models or treatment failure in persons living with HIV in resource-limited settings. As president of board of the Swiss not-for-profit organization SolidarMed, he is committed to improved health for persons living in rural areas in Subsaharan Africa (www.solidarmed.ch)

Current positions

-          Research Group Leader International HIV and chronic disease care at Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute

-          Senior physician in infectious diseases at the University Hospital Basel

-          President of Board SolidarMed, Partnerships for Health

Accademic achievements and diplomas   

2018    SNSF Eccellenza Professorship

2018    Assistant Professor at the University of Basel

2017    Specialist in Tropical and Travel Medicine, Swiss Society of Tropical Medicine

2015    Specialist in General Internal Medicine, Swiss Society of General Internal Medicine

2010    Master of Advanced Studies in International Health (MIH), University of Basel

2009    Diploma in Health Care Management in Tropical Countries (HCMTC), University of Basel

2005    Medical Doctoral Thesis, Medical Faculty of the University of Basel

2004    Physician Diploma, Medical Faculty of the University of Basel

Clinical training

-          Infectious Diseases at University Hospital Basel

-          Tropical Medicine at Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, District Hospital Mfou, Cameroon and St Charles Mission Hospital Seboche, Lesotho

-          Internal Medicine at Kantonsspital Basel-Land and Hôpital du Jura

Prices/Awards

2018   First Prize of the SSI/SAFE-ID AWARDS 2018 - “clinical research in infectious diseases”

2019   Pfizer Forschungspreis 2019 in Infektiologie, Rheumatologie und Immunolog

Larger grants as main applicant (>400’000)           

2016   Swiss National Science Foundation (R4D Open Call, 160876; CHF 499’000)                

2018   Swiss National Science Foundation (PCEFP3_181355; CHF 1'559'950)

2019   Fondation Botnar (CHF 700’000)

Amstutz A, Lejone T.I, Khesa L, Muhairwe J, Nsakala B.L, Tlali K, Bresser M, Tediosi F, Kopo M, Kao M, Klimkait T, Battegay M, Glass T.R, Labhardt N.D. VIBRA trial - effect of village-based refill of ART following home-based same-day ART initiation vs clinic-based ART refill on viral suppression among individuals living with HIV: protocol of a cluster-randomized clinical trial in rural Lesotho. Trials. 2019;20:522. DOI: 10.1186/s13063-019-3510-5

Amstutz A, Lejone T.I, Khesa L, Muhairwe J, Nsakala B.L, Tlali K, Bresser M, Vanobberghen F, Kopo M, Kao M, Klimkait T, Battegay M, Labhardt N.D, Glass T.R. The HOSENG trial - effect of the provision of oral self-testing for absent and refusing individuals during a door-to-door HIV-testing campaign on testing coverage: protocol of a cluster-randomized clinical trial in rural Lesotho. Trials. 2019;20:496. DOI: 10.1186/s13063-019-3469-2

Amstutz A, Nsakala B.L, Vanobberghen F, Muhairwe J, Glass T.R, Achieng B, Sepeka M, Tlali K, Sao L, Thin K, Klimkait T, Battegay M, Labhardt N.D. SESOTHO trial ("Switch Either near Suppression Or THOusand") - switch to second-line versus WHO-guided standard of care for unsuppressed patients on first-line ART with viremia below 1000 copies/mL: protocol of a multicenter, parallel-group, open-label, r. BMC Infect Dis. 2018;18:76. DOI: 10.1186/s12879-018-2979-y

Labhardt N.D, Ringera I, Lejone T.I, Klimkait T, Muhairwe J, Amstutz A, Glass T.R. Effect of offering same-day ART vs usual health facility referral during home-based HIV testing on linkage to care and viral suppression among adults with HIV in Lesotho: the CASCADE randomized clinical trial. JAMA. 2018;319(11):1103-1112. DOI: 10.1001/jama.2018.1818

Lejone T.I, Ringera I, Cheleboi M, Wagner S, Muhairwe J, Klimkait T, Labhardt N.D. The treatment cascade in children with unsuppressed viral load - a reality check in rural Lesotho, Southern Africa. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2018;77(3):250-256. DOI: 10.1097/QAI.0000000000001597

Labhardt N.D, Ringera I, Lejone T.I, Cheleboi M, Wagner S, Muhairwe J, Klimkait T. When patients fail UNAIDS' last 90-the "failure cascade" beyond 90-90-90 in rural Lesotho, Southern Africa: a prospective cohort study. J Int AIDS Soc. 2017;20(1):21803. DOI: 10.7448/IAS.20.1.21803