Erika von Mutius

Erika von Mutius(born 14 May 1957 inBonn,Germany) is a Germanpediatricianandallergologistat theHelmholtz Center Munichand theLudwig-Maximilians-University of Munich.Her research interests include paediatrics, pediatric pneumology, allergology andepidemiology.

Life

Her parents were Franz von Mutius and Hanna Elisabeth von Mutius,néeGazert.Her mother came from aPartenkirchen-based medical family of North German origin. Her maternal grandfather was the German expeditionphysicianand medical officer Hans Gazert; his father, Medical Council Ludolph Friedrich Gazert, originated from aLuneburgermerchant family.

Career

Erika von Mutius studiedMedicinefrom 1976 to 1984 at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich. From 1984 to 1992 she was trained as a specialist in pediatrics at theDr. von Hauner Children's Hospitalof the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich with all general pediatric wards, the neonatal intensive care unit, the pediatric intensive care unit and the pediatric surgical ambulance. In July 1992 she passed the pediatric exam.

She was senior physician at the Haunersches Children's Hospital and habilitated in 1998. Since 2000, she has been Head of the Allergy and Asthma Department of the hospital. In 2004 she was appointed Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Munich.

Since 2017, she has been the Director of the new Institute forAsthmaandAllergyPrevention (IAP) atHelmholtz Center Munich.

Research

Erika von Mutius received the Gottfried WilhelmLeibniz Prizein 2013 for her basic insights into the causes of childhood lung diseases – in particular epidemiological studies on allergicasthma.

She is one of the first allergy researchers who found out after the fall of theGerman wallin 1989/90 that in theGDR,despite the poorer environmental conditions caused by theair pollution,proportionately only half as many allergies existed as in theFederal Republic of Germany.After thereunification,the same level in both parts of the country was reached within a few years. Erika von Mutius suspected that the children had more contact with other children through their daycare in kindergarten. She stated in comparative studies that despite higher air pollution inLeipzigcompared toMunich,the risk of asthma in children was not higher. She also found that children who grow up in the countryside and who are in contact with animals have a lower risk of allergies.

Awards

• 1996: Award of theEuropean Respiratory Societyfor Pediatric Respiratory Research in Europe
• 1999: Elliot Ellis Lectureship at theAmerican Academy of Allergy, Asthma and ImmunologyAnnual Meeting
• 2004: Robert Sauer Prize of theBavarian Academy of Sciences
• 2008: European Medal of the Bavarian State Chancellery
• 2010: Honorary Doctor of theUniversity of Helsinki
• 2011:Daniel BovetAward for improving treatment and prevention of allergic diseases
• 2013:Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prizefor "fundamental discoveries related to the formation and treatment of lung disease in children".
• 2013:Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
• 2019:Balzan Prize

Memberships

• since 2014Leopoldina
• since 2016 member of theAcademia Europaea
• European Respiratory Society(ERS)
• European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology(EAACI)

Editorships

Erika von Mutius is a member of theEditorial Boardof theNew England Journal of Medicineand editor of theJournal of Allergy and Clinical Immunologyand theEuropean Respiratory Journal.