Executive Director of ADVAC
Professor of Vaccinology, Director of the Center for Vaccinology, University and University Hospitals of Geneva
Switzerland

Claire-Anne Siegrist is Professor of Vaccinology at the University of Geneva (Switzerland), Director of the Center for Vaccinology at the University and the University Hospitals of Geneva. After her MD graduation, she trained in Geneva and in the INSERM-CNRS Immunology Center of Marseille-Luminy, France, where she studied the mechanisms of antigen presentation to the immune system and obtained an Advanced Diploma (DEA) in Immunology from Aix-Marseille II University. After her return to Geneva, Dr Siegrist continued her molecular and cellular immunology studies on the regulation of MHC molecules and their influence on immune responses.

In 1994, Dr Siegrist initiated a new research group on Vaccinology and Neonatal Immunology. With her thesis on Vaccination in Early Life, she obtained her PD accreditation in 1998. She was nominated as Professor of Vaccinology at the University of Geneva in 1999.Prof. Siegrist was nominated in 2002 at the Swiss Academy of Medicine, and in 2004 at the Swiss National Research Foundation. In 2005, she received the Bill Marshall Award from the European Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases and in 2017 the Nessim Habiff Global Prize. Professor Siegrist serves or as served as an expert in Vaccinology on numerous national and international Advisory Committees. She was the President of the Swiss Advisory Committee for Immunizations (CFV/EKIF) between 2004 and 2014, a member of the UK Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunization (JCVI) in 2008-2016 and of the WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) in 2010-2016. She has contributed to a large number of original scientific publications in the field of vaccine immunology. Prof. Siegrist is an outstanding teacher who is invited worldwide to give seminars and conferences on vaccine immunology and/or vaccine safety issues, being widely appreciated for her capacity of making complex issues appear crystal-clear.

Prof. Siegrist is also directly involved in multiple activities aiming at improving training and information of health professionals on vaccine related issues, including the setting up of InfoVac (www.infovac.ch), a network for the information of health professionals on all issues regarding immunization. The quality and the objectivity of her engagement for the promotion of evidence-based vaccinology is recognized and appreciated worldwide.