Prof Gerd Pluschke is a biochemist and heads the Molecular Immunology Group at the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH). Before joining Swiss TPH, he worked at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics in Berlin, Germany, Washington University in St. Louis, USA, the Basel Institute for Immunology and Ciba Pharma Research.

Prof Pluschke’s research at Swiss TPH combines field and laboratory research in infectious disease with the major aim of developing new tools for disease control. His main activities include investigations of host-pathogen interactions and malaria vaccine design, characterization of the molecular epidemiology of bacterial meningitis epidemics in the meningitis belt of Africa and a broad research portfolio on Buruli ulcer, a neglected tropical skin disease. This disease is primarily found in West and Central Africa and is caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans.

The group’s research on Buruli ulcer is currently focused on drug discovery based on the screening of new actives against tuberculosis and the development of a rapid diagnostic test and a mycolactone-based vaccine.