The paper was signed by the Federal President, but it was Health Minister Karl Lauterbach who handed it over. On October 4, 2023, Lars Schaade, 57, received the certificate of appointment that makes him president of the Robert Koch Institute, Germany’s public health agency. For him it changed a title, not a desk. He had been running the place on an acting basis since April 1.
Lauterbach brought a proposal to the federal cabinet first, and ministers agreed. Then came the certificate, signed by President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. A formal induction ceremony at the institute was set for October 9.
A man the building already knew
“I am pleased that with Lars Schaade an internationally renowned scientist with many years of leadership experience at the RKI and in the federal administration will lead the RKI,” Lauterbach said. The institute’s own account of his career bears that out.
Schaade trained as a physician in Göttingen, qualified to practice in 1995 and moved the next year to the medical microbiology institute at the university hospital of RWTH Aachen. His research there centered on how the Epstein-Barr virus reactivates and on clinical virology. He became a specialist in microbiology and infectious disease epidemiology in 2000 and completed his habilitation in medical microbiology and virology in 2003.
From 2002 he worked in the federal health ministry, in the division covering communicable diseases, AIDS and epidemic hygiene. He headed it from 2007. Three years later he came back to science at the RKI, taking charge of the Center for Biological Hazards and Special Pathogens, and in 2011 he became vice president. The president at the time was Reinhard Burger, who served until 2015; Lothar Wieler followed and stayed until March 2023.
What the job looks like from the inside
That center, which he led for more than ten years, exists to spot outbreaks of highly dangerous pathogens, judge the health consequences for the population and develop ways to prevent or fight infections. It has seven specialist areas and safety laboratories up to the highest protection level. Under his leadership the institute also got better at advising and supporting Germany’s states, including with operational teams sent to the scene of an incident.
During the pandemic, Schaade led the institute’s internal crisis team, pulling its scientists’ knowledge together, and regularly stood in for the RKI at press briefings and at the federal press conference. He is also an adjunct professor at Charité in Berlin.
Süddeutsche Zeitung noted that he had already had a taste of the public side of the role. When Lauterbach got his fifth Covid shot at the Bundeswehr hospital in Berlin, surrounded by reporters and cameras, Schaade stood beside him while the minister talked about the coming Covid season. The paper described him as fairly relaxed about the coronavirus. At least for now.
Sources
- Prof. Dr. Lars Schaade ist neuer Präsident des Robert Koch-Instituts
- Mediziner Lars Schaade ist neuer RKI-Präsident
- RKI – Prof Dr Lars Schaade – president
- Lars Schade ist der neue Chef des RKI – Politik – SZ.de
