Anja M. Hauri

Dr. Anja M. Hauri serves as Team Lead of the Digital Infectious Disease Surveillance Team within the Department of Epidemiology at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig, Germany—a position she has held since 2021. Previously, she directed the Department of Hygiene and COVID-19 Management Team at Gießen Public Health Office (2020-2021) and led the Department of Epidemiology at the Hessian State Examination and Investigation Office (2001-2019), with earlier WHO assignments in India and Geneva.

Her academic foundation includes:

• Medical studies at University of Perugia (Italy) and University of Amsterdam (Netherlands)
• Specialization in Hygiene and Environmental Medicine at Universities of Gießen and Freiburg
• Master’s in Epidemiology from London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
• Alumna of the European Programme for Intervention Epidemiology Training (EPIET)

Hauri’s research pioneers digital surveillance systems for infectious diseases, with concentrated expertise in carbapenem-resistant gram-negative pathogens. She investigates social determinants of pathogen transmission, antibiotic use patterns, and infection prevention frameworks through field-deployed digital tools. Her leadership spans multiple high-impact projects including BMBF-funded DigiPREW implementing SORMAS in the Democratic Republic of Congo, WOPPA on water-based outbreak prediction in Africa, SCienCe in Côte d’Ivoire, and ALEAC developing AI-driven outbreak detection algorithms for resistant pathogens.

Funding for her initiatives derives from prestigious sources including the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Helmholtz Association’s Initiation and Networking Fund, and seed grants from HIOH. She provided strategic guidance to Germany’s national disease control infrastructure through her decade-long service (2011-2021) on the Robert Koch Institute’s Scientific Advisory Board.

The Digital Infectious Disease Surveillance Team under her direction develops real-time monitoring platforms like SORMAS for global outbreak response, emphasizing interoperable digital infrastructure adaptable to resource-limited settings across Africa and Europe.