Katarina Matthes

Katarina Matthes, PhD

Deputy Head & Senior Research Assistant
Anthropometrics & Historical Epidemiology Group

Phone: +41 44 635 05 13 (Room Y42 G11)

E-Mail

I have a multidisciplinary background in statistics, (historical) epidemiology, and (historical) demography, with a focus on historical demography and epidemiology.

One of my research areas focuses on past pandemics. I study various aspects of pandemics, including their immediate impact on mortality, morbidity, and birth outcomes; the socio-demographic and socio-economic determinants; as well as the long-term health and mortality consequences of in-utero exposure.

Another key focus of my research concerns social and demographic inequalities in mortality trends in Switzerland. I am currently the PI of the SNF Project “Socio-demographic inequalities in the causes of death in Switzerland, 1876–2024”. In this project, approximately 240,000 individual, highly detailed death records from 1876 to 1959 from the City of Zurich are being transcribed from the Zurich City Archives for the first time. These data form the basis for analysing mortality across different socio-demographic and socio-economic groups and offer new insights into the historical dimensions of health inequalities and the influence of social structures in Switzerland’s largest city.

Moreover, my research focuses on infectious disease exposure in early childhood and its later-life health consequences. As Co-PI of the project “Child Mortality Following Measles Infection in Zurich, 1893–1928: A Study from the Pre-Vaccination Period”, I examine whether children infected with measles faced a higher risk of dying in the years following infection compared to uninfected children of the same age, and, if so, which causes of death contributed to this excess mortality

Research interests

Socio-demographic and socio-economic inequalities in historical epidemics and pandemics
Long-term effects of physical and social exposure to a pandemic in-utero or during early life
Infectious disease exposure in early childhood and its later-life health consequences
Long-term trends in mortality and morbidity inequalities
Maternal and neonatal health: its determinants and long-term health effects

Ongoing projects

Child Mortality Following Measles Infection in Zurich, 1893-1928: A Study from the Pre‑Vaccination Period (Co-PI - UZH PRC Seed Grant Project)

Socio-demographic inequalities in the causes of death in Switzerland 1877-2024 (PI - SNSF COST Project)

EU-HORIZON / SERI Project “PREPSHIELD: Preparedness for Society in Health Crises and Disasters”

EU Cost Action “ The Great Leap. Multidisciplinary approaches to health, 1800-2022” (MC Member Switzerland, Active Member in working group 3)

EU Cost Action “ Maternal Perinatal Stress and Adverse Outcomes in the Offspring: Maximising infants´development (TREASURE)” (Active Member in working group 2)

Data & Visualization Hub LEAD “Lessons from the past: Digitized historical health data in Switzerland”

Population health then and now: Historical epidemiology, body height, excess weight

Closed projects

Long-term Mortality Effects of In-Utero Exposure - The 1918/19 Pandemic as a Natural Experiment with Relevance for the Future? (PI - SNSF SPARK Grant)

Neonatal and maternal health at the beginning of the 20th century vs. now

Online Profiles

ORCID

Google Scholar Profile

ResearchGate

Publications

ZORA Publication List

Download Options

Format for Download Link

Download asCSV Download asRIS Download asBIBTEX

Publications

2026
- Steiner, S., Matthes, K. L., Middelkamp, P. W., Riou, J., Hauser, A., & Staub, K. (2026). Sex and gender differences in morbidity and mortality from influenza-like illness during pandemics and throughout the 20th century in Switzerland Infectious Diseases, Epub ahead of print. https://doi.org/10.1080/23744235.2026.2644272

2025
- Friedauer, C., Matthes, K. L., Lang, P., & Staub, K. (2025). Reconstructing the spread of measles in the 20th century: an epidemiological analysis of the period prior to the introduction of vaccination in Switzerland American Journal of Epidemiology, 194(12), 3556–3565. https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwaf167
- Haag, N., Le Vu, M., Jaeggi, A. V., Baud, D., Desseauve, D., Haeusler, M., Staub, K., & Matthes, K. L. (2025). Association between a mismatch of maternal/neonatal body size and obstetrical interventions in Switzerland in the 1920s: a cross-sectional study Schweizerische Medizinische Wochenschrift, 155, 4546. https://doi.org/10.57187/s.4546
- Le Vu, M., Matthes, K. L., Schneider, E. B., Moerlen, A., Hösli, I., Baud, D., & Staub, K. (2025). Maternal Influenza-Like Illness and Neonatal Health During the 1918 Influenza Pandemic in a Swiss City Annals of Internal Medicine, 178, 1632–1641. https://doi.org/10.7326/annals-24-03796
- Urban, C., Vrancken, B., Patrono, L. V., Düx, A., Le Vu, M., Matthes, K. L., Burkhard-Koren, N. M., Widulin, N., Schnalke, T., Carraro, S., Rühli, F., Lemey, P., Staub, K., Calvignac-Spencer, S., & Schuenemann, V. J. (2025). An ancient influenza genome from Switzerland allows deeper insights into host adaptation during the 1918 flu pandemic in Europe BMC Biology, 23, 179. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12915-025-02282-z
- Matthes, K. L., Le Vu, M., & Staub, K. (2025). Fertility dynamics through historical pandemics and COVID-19 in Switzerland, 1871–2022 Population Studies, 79, 463–478. https://doi.org/10.1080/00324728.2025.2462291
- Matthes, K. L., & Staub, K. (2025). Is height loss in adulthood associated with health in later life among the 1946 UK Birth Cohort (NSHD) participants? Aging and Health Research, 5, 100224. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ahr.2025.100224
- Ziegler, E., Matthes, K. L., Middelkamp, P. W., Schünemann, V., Althaus, C. L., Rühli, F., & Staub, K. (2025). Retrospective modelling of the disease and mortality burden of the 1918-1920 influenza pandemic in Zurich, Switzerland Epidemics, 50, 100813. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epidem.2025.100813

2024
- Suter, J., Devos, I., Matthes, K. L., & Staub, K. (2024). The health and demographic impacts of the “Russian flu” pandemic in Switzerland in 1889/1890 and in the years thereafter Epidemiology and Infection, 152, e174. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0950268824001651
- Matthes, K. L., Floris, J., Merzouki, A., Junker, C., Weitkunat, R., Rühli, F., Keiser, O., & Staub, K. (2024). Spatial pattern of all cause excess mortality in Swiss districts during the pandemic years 1890, 1918 and 2020 Spatial and Spatio-Temporal Epidemiology, 51, 100697. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sste.2024.100697
- Le Vu, M., Matthes, K. L., Brabec, M., Riou, J., Skrivankova, V. W., Hösli, I., Rohrmann, S., & Staub, K. (2024). Health of singleton neonates in Switzerland through time and crises: a cross-sectional study at the population level, 2007-2022 BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 24, 218. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12884-024-06414-1
- Matthes, K. L., & Staub, K. (2024). The Need to Analyse Historical Mortality Data to Understand the Causes of Today’s Health Inequalities International Journal of Public Health, 69, 1607739. https://doi.org/10.3389/ijph.2024.1607739

2023
- Le Vu, M., Matthes, K. L., & Staub, K. (2023). The ups and downs of birth rate in Switzerland 2020 to 2023 in a historical context (No. 23299432; MedRxiv). https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.12.05.23299432
- Guarnieri Lopez, M., Matthes, K. L., Sob, C., Bender, N., & Staub, K. (2023). Associations between 3D surface scanner derived anthropometric measurements and body composition in a cross-sectional study European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 77, 972–981. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-023-01309-4
- Salvisberg, V., Le Vu, M., Floris, J., Matthes, K. L., & Staub, K. (2023). Health of neonates born in the maternity hospital in Bern, Switzerland, 1880–1900 and 1914–1922 PLoS ONE, 18, e0289157. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0289157
- Bernhard, M., Leuch, C., Kordi, M., Gruebner, O., Matthes, K. L., Floris, J., & Staub, K. (2023). From pandemic to endemic: Spatial-temporal patterns of influenza-like illness incidence in a Swiss canton, 1918-1924 Economics and Human Biology, 50, 101271. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ehb.2023.101271
- Floris, J., Matthes, K. L., Le Vu, M., & Staub, K. (2023). Intergenerational transmission of height in a historical population: from taller mothers to larger offspring at birth (and as adults) PNAS Nexus, 2, pgad208. https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgad208
- Matthes, K. L., Le Vu, M., Bhattacharyya, U., Galliker, A., Kordi, M., Floris, J., & Staub, K. (2023). Reinfections and Cross-Protection in the 1918/19 Influenza Pandemic: Revisiting a Survey Among Male and Female Factory Workers International Journal of Public Health, 68, 1605777. https://doi.org/10.3389/ijph.2023.1605777
- Ziegler, E., Postma, E., Matthes, K. L., Floris, J., & Staub, K. (2023). Health and lifespan of Swiss men born in an alpine region in 1905–1907 The History of the Family, 28, 339–359. https://doi.org/10.1080/1081602x.2022.2100806
- Matthes, K. L. (2023). Long-term mortality effects of century crises: A warning from the past for the decades after COVID-19? Swiss Medical Weekly, 153, 40057. https://doi.org/10.57187/smw.2023.40057
- Matthes, K., & Staub, K. (2023). Height loss in adulthood is associated with health outcomes in later life in men and women enrolled in the 1946 UK Birth Cohort (NSHD) (No. 23298098; MedRxiv). https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.11.04.23298098

2022
- Ekingen, T., Sob, C., Hartmann, C., Rühli, F. J., Matthes, K. L., Staub, K., & Bender, N. (2022). Associations between hydration status, body composition, sociodemographic and lifestyle factors in the general population: a cross-sectional study BMC Public Health, 22, 900. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-13280-z
- Müller, S.-M., Floris, J., Rohrmann, S., Staub, K., & Matthes, K. L. (2022). Body height among adult male and female Swiss Health Survey participants in 2017: Trends by birth years and associations with self-reported health status and life satisfaction Preventive Medicine Reports, 29, 101980. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmedr.2022.101980
- Rickenbacher, M., Gültekin, N., Stanga, Z., Bender, N., Staub, K., Wells, J. C., Matthes, K. L., & Reber, E. (2022). The role of body height as a co-factor of excess weight in Switzerland American Journal of Human Biology, 34, e23754. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.23754
- Schäppi, J. S., Stringhini, S., Guessous, I., Staub, K., & Matthes, K. L. (2022). Body height in adult women and men in a cross-sectional population-based survey in Geneva: temporal trends, association with general health status and height loss after age 50 BMJ Open, 12, e059568. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2021-059568
- Staub, K., Panczak, R., Matthes, K. L., Floris, J., Berlin, C., Junker, C., Weitkunat, R., Mamelund, S.-E., Zwahlen, M., & Riou, J. (2022). Historically High Excess Mortality During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Switzerland, Sweden, and Spain Annals of Internal Medicine, 175, 523–532. https://doi.org/10.7326/m21-3824
- Matthes, K. L., Zuberbuehler, C. A., Rohrmann, S., Hartmann, C., Siegrist, M., Burnier, M., Bochud, M., Zwahlen, M., Bender, N., & Staub, K. (2022). Selling, buying and eating – a synthesis study on dietary patterns across language regions in Switzerland British Food Journal, 124, 1502–1518. https://doi.org/10.1108/bfj-02-2021-0141
- Matthes, K. L., Hartmann, C., Siegrist, M., Burnier, M., Bochud, M., Zwahlen, M., Bender, N., & Staub, K. (2022). A quantitative synthesis study on body mass index and associated factors among adult men and women in Switzerland Journal of Nutritional Science, 11, e65. https://doi.org/10.1017/jns.2022.66

2021
- Michalopoulou, E., Matthes, K. L., Karavasiloglou, N., Wanner, M., Limam, M., Korol, D., Held, L., & Rohrmann, S. (2021). Impact of comorbidities at diagnosis on the 10-year colorectal cancer net survival: A population-based study Cancer Epidemiology, 73, 101962. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.canep.2021.101962
- Limam, M., Matthes, K. L., Pestoni, G., Michalopoulou, E., Held, L., Dehler, S., Korol, D., & Rohrmann, S. (2021). Are there sex differences among colorectal cancer patients in treatment and survival? A Swiss cohort study Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology, 147, 1407–1419. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00432-021-03557-y
- Staub, K., Jüni, P., Urner, M., Matthes, K. L., Leuch, C., Gemperle, G., Bender, N., Fabrikant, S. I., Puhan, M., Rühli, F., Gruebner, O., & Floris, J. (2021). Public health interventions, epidemic growth, and regional variation of the 1918 influenza pandemic outbreak in a Swiss canton and its greater regions Annals of Internal Medicine, 174, 533–539. https://doi.org/10.7326/m20-6231
- Matthes, K. L., Siegrist, M., Burnier, M., Bochud, M., Rohrmann, S., Hartmann, C., Zuberbühler, C., Zwahlen, M., Bender, N., & Staub, K. (2021). Verkaufen, kaufen und konsumieren – Eine Synthesestudie zu den Ernährungsunterschieden in den verschiedenen Gross- und Sprachregionen der Schweiz Schweizer Ernährungsbulletin, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.24444/blv-2021-0111
- Karavasiloglou, N., Matthes, K. L., Pestoni, G., Limam, M., Korol, D., Wanner, M., & Rohrmann, S. (2021). Risk for Invasive Cancers in Women With Breast Cancer In Situ: Results From a Population Not Covered by Organized Mammographic Screening Frontiers in Oncology, 11, 606747. https://doi.org/10.3389/fonc.2021.606747

2020
- Wanner, M., Matthes, K. L., Karavasiloglou, N., Limam, M., Korol, D., & Rohrmann, S. (2020). 37-year incidence and mortality time trends of common cancer types by sex, age, and stage in the canton of Zurich Swiss Medical Weekly, 150, w20388. https://doi.org/10.4414/smw.2020.20388
- Staub, K., Matthes, K. L., Rühli, F., & Bender, N. (2020). Clash of the pandemics – At least 150’000 adults in Switzerland suffer from obesity grades 2 or 3 and are thus at elevated risk for severe COVID-19 [version 1; peer review: awaiting peer review] F1000Research, 9, 1413. https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.27819.1
- Feller, A., Matthes, K. L., Bordoni, A., Bouchardy, C., Bulliard, J.-L., Herrmann, C., Konzelmann, I., Maspoli, M., Mousavi, M., Rohrmann, S., Staehelin, K., & Arndt, V. (2020). The relative risk of second primary cancers in Switzerland: a population-based retrospective cohort study BMC Cancer, 20, 51. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12885-019-6452-0
- Butie, C., Matthes, K. L., Hösli, I., Floris, J., & Staub, K. (2020). Impact of World War 1 on placenta weight, birth weight and other anthropometric parameters of neonatal health Placenta, 100, 150–158. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.placenta.2020.07.003
- Stahel, R. A., Curioni-Fontecedro, A., Rohrmann, S., Dafni, U., Sandner, U., Opitz, I., Andratschke, N., Franzen, D., Dimopoulou, G., Matthes, K. L., Kohler, M., Guckenberger, M., & Weder, W. (2020). Survival outcome of non-small cell lung cancer patients: Comparing results between the database of the Comprehensive Cancer Center Zürich and the Epidemiological Cancer Registry Zurich and Zug Lung Cancer, 146, 217–223. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lungcan.2020.05.037
- Gassmann, N. N., Matthes, K. L., Eppenberger, P., Brabec, M., Panczak, R., Zwahlen, M., Bender, N., Wyss, T., Rühli, F. J., & Staub, K. (2020). Residential altitude associates with endurance but not muscle power in young Swiss men Frontiers in Physiology, 11, 860. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2020.00860
- Matthes, K. L., Floris, J., Hartmann, C., Burnier, M., Bochud, M., Bührer, T., Reber, E., Stanga, Z., Gültekin, N., Zwahlen, M., Bender, N., & Staub, K. (2020). Das Gewicht der Schweiz: Eine quantitative Synthesestudie zum Body Mass Index und Bauchumfang sowie den damit verbundenen Kofaktoren bei erwachsenen Männern und Frauen in der Schweiz Bundesamt für Gesundheit BAG. https://www.bag.admin.ch/dam/bag/de/dokumente/npp/forschungsberichte/forschungsberichte-e-und-b/schlussbericht-bmi.pdf.download.pdf/Schlussbericht%20BMI_V7.pdf

2019
- Vinci, L., Floris, J., Koepke, N., Matthes, K. L., Bochud, M., Bender, N., Rohrmann, S., Fäh, D., & Staub, K. (2019). Have Swiss adult males and females stopped growing taller? Evidence from the population-based nutrition survey menuCH, 2014/2015 Economics and Human Biology, 33, 201–210. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ehb.2019.03.009
- Karavasiloglou, N., Matthes, K. L., Berlin, C., Limam, M., Wanner, M., Korol, D., & Rohrmann, S. (2019). Increasing trends in in situ breast cancer incidence in a region with no population-based mammographic screening program: results from Zurich, Switzerland 2003-2014 Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology, 145, 653–660. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00432-018-2822-2
- Góngora, V. M., Matthes, K. L., Castaño, P. R., Linseisen, J., & Rohrmann, S. (2019). Dietary Heterocyclic Amine Intake and Colorectal Adenoma Risk: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention, 28, 99–109. https://doi.org/10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-17-1017

2018
- Binder, C., Matthes, K. L., Korol, D., Rohrmann, S., & Moch, H. (2018). Cancer of unknown primary-Epidemiological trends and relevance of comprehensive genomic profiling Cancer Medicine, 7, 4814–4824. https://doi.org/10.1002/cam4.1689
- Matthes, K. L., Pestoni, G., Korol, D., Van Hemelrijck, M., & Rohrmann, S. (2018). The risk of prostate cancer mortality and cardiovascular mortality of nonmetastatic prostate cancer patients: A population-based retrospective cohort study Urologic Oncology, 36, 309.e15-309.e23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.urolonc.2018.02.016
- Matthes, K. L., Limam, M., Pestoni, G., Held, L., Korol, D., & Rohrmann, S. (2018). Impact of comorbidities at diagnosis on prostate cancer treatment and survival Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology, 144, 707–715. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00432-018-2596-6
- Matthes, K. L. (2018). The impact of comorbidities and tumor characteristics on treatment decisions and survival of prostate cancer patients (Dissertation, University of Zurich)
- Wanner, M., Richard, A., Matthes, K., Ortelli, L., Lorez, M., Korol, D., Bordoni, A., & Rohrmann, S. (2018). Trends in prostate cancer incidence between 1996 and 2013 in two Swiss regions by age, grade, and T-stage Cancer Causes & Control, 29, 269–277. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-017-0993-9
- Wanner, M., Matthes, K. L., Korol, D., Dehler, S., & Rohrmann, S. (2018). Indicators of Data Quality at the Cancer Registry Zurich and Zug in Switzerland BioMed Research International, 2018, 7656197. https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/7656197

2017
- Giroud, N., Lemke, U., Reich, P., Matthes, K. L., & Meyer, M. (2017). Longitudinal auditory learning facilitates auditory cognition as revealed by microstate analysis Biological Psychology, 123, 25–36. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2016.11.007
- Matthes, K. L., Limam, M., Dehler, S., Korol, D., & Rohrmann, S. (2017). Primary treatment choice over time and relative survival of prostate cancer patients: influence of age, grade, and stage Oncology Research and Treatment, 40, 484–489. https://doi.org/10.1159/000477096
- Giroud, N., Lemke, U., Reich, P., Matthes, K. L., & Meyer, M. (2017). The impact of hearing aids and age-related hearing loss on auditory plasticity across three months – An electrical neuroimaging study Hearing Research, 353, 162–175. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heares.2017.06.012

2016
- Soneson, C., Matthes, K. L., Nowicka, M., Law, C. W., & Robinson, M. D. (2016). Isoform prefiltering improves performance of count-based methods for analysis of differential transcript usage Genome Biology, 17, 12. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13059-015-0862-3

Additional Information

Selected research projects are outlined on the webpage of the research group (led by K. Staub).

Quicklinks

Main navigation