I am an Adjunct Professor and Research Group Leader at the Institute of Evolutionary Medicine at the University of Zurich. I have a multidisciplinary background in environmental, economic and social history, as well as in evolutionary medicine, (historical) epidemiology, (historical) anthropometry and (historical) demography. My research focuses on population health over time, particularly the interactions between human health and environmental change in Switzerland and beyond over the past two centuries. The latest trends and monitoring of important health issues are also part of my work. By combining historical and epidemiological approaches, my research group provides critical context to contemporary health and societal challenges.
Research group, projects & news
See my group's separate webpage
Other Affiliations and Memberships
- EU COST Action "The Great Leap. Multidisciplinary approaches to health inequalities, 1800-2022" (Working Group Leader)
- IUSSP Panel "Epidemics & Contagious Diseases: The Legacy of the Past" (Panel Member)
- Crisis Competence Center, UZH (Member)
- Initiative Geisteswissenschaften, UZH (Member)
- Epidemiology & Biostatistics PhD Program UZH (Member)
- Center for Military & Disaster Medicine, Swiss Armed Forces (Member of the Scientific Board)
- Zurich Center for Integrative Human Physiology (ZIHP) (Member)
- Institute of History, University of Bern (Research Affiliate & Lecturer)
- Digital Society Initiative (DSI), University of Zurich (Member)
- Swiss School of Public Health SSPH+ (Faculty Member)
Publications
See also Google Scholar Profile
ZORA Publication List
Publications
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2022
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Journal Article
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Life-history tradeoffs in a historical population (1896-1939) undergoing rapid fertility decline: Costs of reproduction? Evolutionary Human Sciences, 4, e7. https://doi.org/10.1017/ehs.2022.2
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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
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What would have happened if we would not have had the COVID vaccination? Swiss Medical Weekly, online. https://smw.ch/op-eds/post/what-would-have-happened-if-we-would-not-have-had-the-covid-vaccination-could-the-pandemic-death-toll-2020-2021-have-reached-the-dimensions-of-the-1918-1919-pandemic
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Lernen aus vergangenen Krisen - Das Beispiel der Influenza-Pandemie 1918 in der Schweizer Armee Swiss Review of Military and Disaster Medicine (SRMDM), 99, 619–1428. https://www.medof.ch/files/SRMDM_2-2021_Dezember_2.pdf
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2022: Ein ziemlich normaler zukünftiger Sommer Geographica Bernensia, G100, online. https://doi.org/10.4480/GB2022.G100
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Book Section
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Geschichtliche Trends von Körpergrösse und Körpergewicht in einer wechselnden Umwelt In N. Bender & L. Habermann-Horstmeier (Eds.), Evolution und Gesundheit : Wie beeinflussen Lebensweise und Ernährung die Medizin und unsere Gesundheit? (pp. 95–121). Hogrefe Verlag. https://doi.org/10.1024/86110-000
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Übersterblichkeit während extremer Hitzewellen in der Schweiz In S. Brönnimann, N. Imfeld, & P. Stucki (Eds.), Hitze- und Trockensommer in der Schweiz : Ursachen und Folgen der Jahrhundertsommer 1947, 2003 und 2018 (No. G98; pp. 22–24). Geographica Bernensia. https://doi.org/10.4480/GB2022.G98.01
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Working Paper
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Body mass index in young men in Switzerland after the national shutdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic – Results from a cross-sectional monitoring study at population level since 2010 (No. qd9vw; OSF Preprints). https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/qd9vw
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Challenges and best practices for digital unstructured data enrichment in health research: a systematic narrative review (No. 22278137; MedRxiv). https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.07.28.22278137
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2021
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Journal Article
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Drawings or 3D models: Do illustration methods matter when assessing perceived body size and body dissatisfaction? PLoS ONE, 16, e0261645. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0261645
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Investigating survivorship bias: the case of the 1918 flu pandemic Applied Economics Letters, 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504851.2021.1971614
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If immunisation is too low, dropping temperatures in fall 2021 may lead to epidemic resurgence – as in 1918, 1957 and 2020 Swiss Medical Weekly, 151, w30014. https://doi.org/10.4414/smw.2021.w30014
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Management of Home Parenteral Nutrition: Complications and Survival Annals of Nutrition & Metabolism, 77, 46–55. https://doi.org/10.1159/000515057
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Impact of omega-3 fatty acid DHA and EPA supplementation in pregnant or breast-feeding women on cognitive performance of children: systematic review and meta-analysis Nutrition Reviews, 79, 585–598. https://doi.org/10.1093/nutrit/nuaa060
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Associations between relative body fat and areal body surface roughness characteristics in 3D photonic body scans-a proof of feasibility International Journal of Obesity, 45, 906–913. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41366-021-00758-w
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