Professor Nino Künzli, MD, PhD, MPH

Professional activities at Swiss TPH (50% FTE)

• Emeritus from Swiss TPh and Uni Basel 31.12.2022

Former activities:

• Former Head of Bachelor-Master-Doctorate Unit of the Department of Education and Training (ET)of Swiss TPH
• Leading and coordinating public health teaching in the University medical school as Full Professor of Public Health of the Medical Faculty, University of Basel
• Teaching in the MSc Epidemiology of University of Basel and various post-graduate and PhD courses
• Research: as project leader in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Chronic Disease Unit: research in environmental epidemiology in on effects of ambient air pollution and related health impact assessment
• Serves on National and International advisory boards, in particular in the domain of air pollution and health. President of the Swiss Federal Commission of Air Hygiene

Activity for SSPH+

Since 2015, Künzli is also the Dean of the Swiss School of Public Health (50% FTE). SSPH+ is a foundation of the 12 Universities Basel, Geneva, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchatel, USI Lugano, Zürich, Fribourg and the Universities of applied sciences Bern, Zürich ZHAW and Ticino SUPSI as well as EPFL (since 1.1.2023). SSPH+ unifies the inter-university and stronlgy interdisciplinary public health professors to build the critical mass of an inter-university national faculty of Public Health. University of Basel is the largest partner of SSPH+, contributing >40% of the public health orientied professors. In Basel, Swiss TPH is the prime host of these positions (>30% of the SSPH+ faculty). The Dean's office is in Zürich. Künzli will hand over the Director position in fall 2023.

Since 2012, Künzli is Co-Editor in Chief of the International Journal of Public Health (owned by the Swiss School of Public Health, published by Frontiers, Lausanne). Under his lead, IJPH became fully self-funded as he negotiated the share of revenues with SpringerNature. The Open Access publishing contract with Frontiers guarantees not only the coverage of all costs of both SSPH+ journals (namely the independent Edtorial Office, hosted by Swiss TPH) but results in additional revenues for SSPH+ in support of authors from low-income countries and the development of the journals and the PhD training offers of SSPH+.

The Lancet features SSPH+

Higher education and qualifications

• 1983 Medical Exam University of Basel
• 1986 MD University of Basel
• 1992 MPH (Master in Public Health) University of California Berkeley, USA
• 1996 PhD in Epidemiology, University of California Berkeley, USA
• 2000 Venia docendi (Habilitation - PD / Assisstant professor) University of Basel Medical Faculty

Past professional activities

• Since 2010 Deputy Director Swiss TPH; 2010-2015: Head of Department of Epidemiology and Public Health
• Since May 2009 Full Professor / Chair of Social and Preventive Medicine / Public Health University of Basel Medical Faculty (director of former Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine Basel)
• 2006-2009 ICREA Research Professor at the Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology, CREAL; head of air pollution research group   
• 2002-2005 Associate Professor with tenure University of Southern California Los Angeles, Division of Environmental Health at the Department of Preventive Medicine
• 1996-2002 PROSPER Senior Researcher fellowship of Swiss National Science Foundation at Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine University Basel
• 1996  Research advisor Swiss Lung Association
• 1995-1996 PhD Fellowship of SwissLung (1 year, 20%)
• 1992-1995 SNF PROPSER Fellowship for MPH and PhD, University of California Berkeley, USA
• 1989-1992 Research assistant in air pollution epidemiology, coordinator of Swiss Study on Air Pollution and Lung Diseases in Adults SAPALDIA
• Since 1998: Steering Committee member, Work package leader, principal and/or co-investigator of large cohort, exposure assessment or health impact studies in the field of air pollution and health (SAPALDIA; European ECRHS; European ESCAPE and TRANSPHORM; Spanish REGICOR-AIR; USC Children’s Health Study and TROY; EXPOLIS; APHEKOM and others)