Petra Zimmermann, MD, PhD, PD
Clinical Scientist

I am a Clinical Scientist trained in Infectious Diseases and Paediatrics, currently working at the University of Fribourg and the Fribourg Hospital in Switzerland. I trained at the University Children’s Hospital in Berne, Switzerland and at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, Australia. In 2013, I completed my thesis ‘Diagnosis and Management of Travellers returning from a developing Country’ at the Clinic for Infectious Diseases and Travel Medicine at the University Hospital of Berne. This was followed by a PhD at the University of Melbourne, where I investigated factors that influence immune responses to routine vaccinations in infants, as well as non-specific effects of vaccines. In 2022, I was awarded the title of Privatdozent at the University in Fribourg, for my COVID-19 research in children.

Currently, I am leading the Microbiota and Children Laboratory (Miracle) in Fribourg, where we focuses on investigating the influence of the microbiome on immune and non-immune related diseases in children. I have experience in conducting large longitudinal observational and interventional studies in infants. My research is mainly founded by the Swiss National Science Foundation and the European Society of Paediatric Infectious Diseases. I have co-authored approximately 100 peer-reviewed publications in are of paediatric infectious diseases and microbiome research, including articles in the Lancet and JAMA Pediatrics. I currently supervise PhD, MD and master thesis and I am senior lecturer at the University of Fribourg and an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne.
Taulant Muka
My Experience
In my research, I invested how the microbiome is transmitted from mothers to infants and how it is influenced by other internal and external factors (e.g. antibiotic exposure), as well as on how the composition is associated with immune and non-immune related diseases in children. I also work as the Deputy Head of Paediatrics and Senior Consultant in Paediatric Infectious Diseases at the Fribourg Hospital.
  • University of Fribourg - Privatdozentin and Group leader, Microbiota and Children Laboratory (Miracle)
  • Murdoch Children’s Research Institute - Postdoctoral research
  • University of Melbourne - PhD
  • University of Berne - MD
  • University Children’s Hospital Berne - Clinical training