Prof. Addo studied Medicine at the University of Bonn with study years abroad in Strasbourg, France and Lausanne, Switzerland (Erasmus exchange program). After completing a Master’s Degree in “Applied Molecular Biology of Infectious Diseases” (MSc AMBID, on a DAAD scholarship) and the Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (DTM & H) at the London School for Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, she pursued postdoctoral research years with focus on HIV Immunology at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH)/Harvard Medical School (HMS) in Boston, USA, funded through the DFG Emmy Noether program. After completing her specialist training at MGH and Brighams and Womens Hospital in internal medicine (2007) and infectious diseases (2010), she worked as staff attending physician in infectious diseases at the MGH until 2013. From 2010-2013 she also worked as a PI and research group leader at the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard and as an Assistant Professor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Since her appointment as first Professor of the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) (W2 Emerging Infections) in 2013, Professor Addo has headed a translational research program on virus immunology and vaccine development for “Emerging Infections” at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE). In 2017 she was appointed to the W3 professorship of Infectious Diseases at the UKE and is currently Head of the Infectious Diseases Division at the UKE Department of Internal Medicine. Since January 2022 she serves as the Founding Director of the new Institute for Infection Research and Vaccine Development (IIRVD) at the UKE. Her research group focuses on immunity to infectious diseases and early vaccine development of vaccines against emerging or re-emerging pathogens such as Ebola, MERS and now SARS-CoV-2. She lives in Hamburg, Germany and has two children.
