Riems Island, 04. July 2023. Prof. Christa Kühn has taken over the presidency of the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut from Prof. Thomas C. Mettenleiter. On Friday, 30 June 2023, the staff of the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut officially said goodbye to their long-time president Thomas C. Mettenleiter and welcomed the new president. Veterinarian Christa Kühn is the first woman to head the FLI in the Institute's 111-year history. Her first day of work on 3. July 2023 ended with an event: she moderated the 11th Loeffler Lecture at the Alfried Krupp Wissenschaftskolleg in Greifswald.
Prof. Christa Kühn was appointed as the new President of the Friedrich Loeffler Institut (Federal Research Institute for Animal Health; FLI) by the Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture, Cem Özdemir. "I am looking forward to this new major task and to the great team! For me, the FLI is like a big armada of many specialised ships sailing one course," Kühn said at the official handover of the office. "As president, I will continue to stay on course and set some new sails."
Already on Monday, 3. July 2023, Prof. Christa Kühn hosted her first event as FLI President with the 11th Loeffler Lecture entitled "New infectious diseases: from reaction to prevention - is it possible?". The "Loeffler Lecture" on current virological research topics is intended to commemorate Friedrich Loeffler's pioneering achievements in virology. It is awarded to scientists who have rendered outstanding services to this field of research through their work. This year, Prof. Marion Koopmans, Ph.D., was the first female scientist to be awarded with the Loeffler Lecture. The internationally renowned scientist pointed out possibilities for recognising and stopping impending epidemics or even pandemics at an early stage.
Prof. Christa Kühn completed her doctorate at the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover. In 2013, she was appointed professor of "Genetics of Disease Resistance" at the Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences in Rostock. Until June 2023, she headed the Institute for Genome Biology at the Research Institute for Farm Animal Biology (FBN) in Dummerstorf.
