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Preface
ANNUAL REPORT 2021
3 Preface 6 Future Perspectives 10 Facts & Figures 17 In Retrospect 24 Insights 34 Our Impact 41 Committees & Departments 51 Finances
Greetings from “Belo Horizonte” — the new Swiss TPH headquarters in Allschwil, Switzerland! I write this preface from the fourth floor of our new home, where nearly 700 employees and students from 80 nations now study, pursue research and work under one roof.
2021 was another year overshadowed by the COVID-19 pandemic, which challenged our health and social systems and tested societies in an unprecedented way. Despite the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the power of research, innovation and collaboration prevailed. Safe and efficacious vaccines against COVID-19 were developed, validated and deployed at a speed never heralded before. Unfortunately, we also saw that access to these commodities was unequally distributed, which requires global action for preventing and managing future disease outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics in the future.
Throughout 2021, the scientific community continued to play an essential role in the creation of novel diagnostics, drugs and vaccines against other persisting diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis, neglected tropical diseases and non-communicable diseases, while simultaneously contributing to pressing public health topics such as air pollution and climate change. I am proud of the crucial contributions made to the improvement of global health by Swiss TPH colleagues together with our partners from all over the world, demonstrating that through deep commitment and partnership, we can move mountains.
Resilience and growth Swiss TPH employees and students continued to pursue our mission of improving people’s health and well-being through excellence in research, education and services. We worked across our eight strategic topics, ranging from infection biology and molecular epidemiology to statistical and mathematical modelling. For the first time ever, we published more than 600 scientific papers in the peer-reviewed literature.
Our scope of activities continued to grow and we maintained a consistent portfolio of projects, as well as acquired new, competitive project grants and service mandates. At the end of 2021, we had 262 active projects in 133 countries that contributed to 14 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), most importantly SDG 3 “Ensuring healthy lives and promoting health and well-being for all”. Additionally, we expanded into new topic areas such as nutrition and antimicrobial resistance. Indeed, our expertise was increasingly sought after in Basel, across Switzerland
