Future Perspectives

Eva Herzog, Member of the Swiss Council of States from Basel, has been President of the Board of Governors of Swiss TPH since 2023. In this interview, she tells us what makes Swiss TPH unique, what priorities she would like to set, and how at the political level, she is committed to Switzerland being a hub for research and innovation.

Eva Herzog, you have been President of the Board of Governors since the beginning of 2023, and were already a member of this highest supervisory and decision-making body of Swiss TPH for two years before that. What was your first point of contact with Swiss TPH?

Eva Herzog: “I’ve known and admired Swiss TPH for decades. I was in Africa for the first time 34 years ago, in Côte d’Ivoire, to visit my brother, who lived and pursued research there for a few years. As I had to get vaccinated for this trip, my first visit to Swiss TPH was at the Centre for Tropical and Travel Medicine. As a Basel resident, I was of course familiar with the ‘Tropeli’, as Swiss TPH was known for many years. During my academic work in the Vice-Rectorate for Research at the University of Basel and later as a member of the Basel-Stadt government, I got to know Swiss TPH better. When I returned to Côte d’Ivoire as President of the Board of Governors at the beginning of 2023, I met some of my brother’s staff again. Those were wonderful encounters.”

You are the first woman to be President of the Board of Governors. Will you do something different from your male predecessors?

Eva Herzog: “Fundamentally, I am deeply committed to strengthening the role of women in leadership. Within the institute, I think it’s important to achieve a balance with at least one third of women in leadership positions and to promote women’s issues. Being a woman in a leadership position also means that you have a role model function. Within the scope of my influence, I will work to remove barriers to balancing family and career. As far as improving health on a global scale, the empowerment of women in the health system and gender medicine are important topics for me.”

How would you like to make your mark during your term as President of the Board of Governors?

Eva Herzog: “Swiss TPH is not sufficiently known in Switzerland, even though it’s the largest Swiss public health institute. Around the world, it is a renowned institute in the field of global health and unique in its combination of research, education and services. As President of the Board of Governors, I also see my role in making Swiss TPH better known within Switzerland.”

You have long advocated that Swiss TPH should play a leading role in preventing and combating future epidemics and pandemics. Why do you think Swiss TPH is suited to fill this role?

Eva Herzog: “What has always fascinated me about Swiss TPH is the interplay between research and application, between science and society. Social factors are considered just as important in the fight against diseases as the tools needed, like medicines or vaccines. Swiss TPH played an important role throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, whether in providing data to inform policy decisions or in conducting research on the spread and control of the disease in Switzerland and internationally. Swiss TPH in collaboration with other institutions could play an even more important role here in the future.”

What other strategic goals should Swiss TPH pursue?

Eva Herzog: “I see my role primarily in supporting Swiss TPH at the political level. For example, I’m committed to funding the Swiss Citizen Cohort – a large-scale national long-term study initiated and coordinated by Swiss TPH, in partnership with other research institutes. The aim of this study is to collect data to better understand the health of the population, and is critically important in order for us to remain internationally competitive in research, as well as to have the necessary data to be able to better react in future crises. This is groundwork that Switzerland must be prepared to undertake.”

As a member of the Council of States, you are, among other things, on the Commission for Science, Education and Culture and consequently you have a hand in shaping policy in these areas. How should politics promote research in Switzerland and what is the importance of Swiss TPH in this?

Eva Herzog: “For the 2021 – 2024 strategy period, we obtained an increase in federal funding for Swiss TPH within the parliament, but now there’s a threat of cuts for the research institutions in the next strategy period. Yet, it’s clear to me that we must not cut corners in education and research, all the more so since Switzerland is currently still excluded from the European Framework Programme for Research and Innovation known as Horizon Europe. Swiss research institutions need access to these European programmes for their reputation and to remain internationally competitive. Recently, there have been signs that the Federal Council will move towards a mandate for negotiations that could open the doors for discussions, but under no circumstances should funds be cut now.”

Swiss TPH has been operating from its new headquarters “Belo Horizonte” in Allschwil since 1 April 2022. What do you see as the opportunities at the new location?

Eva Herzog: “Having all staff and students working under one roof now is a great opportunity for enhanced cooperation. The new infrastructure with state-of-the-art laboratories is also very im- portant if you want to play a central role in public health. The environment of the life science cluster at the new headquarters is also interesting for additional collaborations. However, the public transportation to get to “Belo Horizonte” still needs to be improved. The new headquarters in Allschwil is also an example of successful cooperation between Basel-Landschaft and Basel-Stadt.”

And finally: What moment at Swiss TPH has been particularly memorable for you so far?

Eva Herzog: “What impresses me most is the diversity of people with different experiences and cultures who work together to improve people’s health. During my visits to Mozambique and Côte d’Ivoire, I directly experienced what makes Swiss TPH so special: North-South cooperation that is not just on paper, but is actively lived. It is the relationship between Swiss TPH and their partners that promotes the mutual exchange of knowledge and experience which make the institute such a unique place. This kind of cooperation should serve as a role model.”

Eva Herzog

Eva Herzog was a member of the legislative for the Social Democratic Party (SP) in the Canton of Basel-Stadt from 2001 to 2005, and a member of the Basel-Stadt government and head of the Department of Finance from 2005 to 2020. She has been a member of the Council of States in the Swiss Parliament since 2019.

Eva Herzog studied history, economics and Spanish at the University of Basel and the University of Santiago de Compostela. She became politicised in the “Fair Trade Shop movement ” of the time. Following her dissertation, she worked as a scientific collaborator in the Vice-Rectorate for Research at the University of Basel and as a cultural manager.

Eva Herzog has been a member of the Board of Governors of the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH) for 2 years, before she took over the Presidency in January 2023.