HUG vaccinology professor Claire-Anne Siegrist retires
She will have been one of the essential scientific figures during the Covid-19 pandemic. The professor of vaccinology at the Geneva University Hospitals (HUG) Claire-Anne Siegrist is retiring.
On Tuesday, Claire-Anne Siegrist bowed out in front of her peers and to thunderous applause. “It was a very special day, after forty years in an institution. Everything we do is for the last time … It’s very moving”, she confides, Tuesday in the 7:30 p.m. the RTS.
His career has been largely devoted to virology. Pediatrician, infectiologist and immunologist, she headed the Federal Commission for Vaccinations for a decade, before taking the helm, in 2013, of the HUG Vaccinology Center.
“From the start of her career, she was a pioneer on the issue of vaccines: to succeed in ensuring that we not only have a reflection, but also an access capacity for people who need it”, underlines the director general of the HUG Bertrand Levrat.
“Science has lost its credibility”
The Covid-19 pandemic will undoubtedly have been one of the defining events in Claire-Anne Siegrist’s career. “The crisis situation has involved politics in areas that were hitherto those of experts. It was very complicated and difficult for scientists to live with,” she explains.
And to add: “Science has lost its credibility saying things too strongly, too soon or too late. I regret the cleavage that has developed in society. Public health policy can never be the same again.”
Clinical trial for Ebola vaccine
Recognized in Switzerland and on the international scene, Claire-Anne Siegrist notably directed theclinical trial of an Ebola vaccinecommissioned by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2014 and 2015. The effectiveness and implementation of this mission are always cited as an example.
“Claire-Anne Siegrist is an excellent scientist, a model for all of us. And even a mother, because she has always known us. She has supported and guided us in our respective careers. It is a great emotion to see her leave today”, testifies Laure Pittet, one of the former students of the professor of vaccinology.
“An extraordinary scientist”
Suffering from a disease that affects the nerves of her legs, Claire-Anne Siegrist started hypnosis to relieve her pain. His openness and his courage arouse admiration as much as affection. “She has become a friend, a colleague of immense value with whom we can discuss scientific problems, ethical questions and visions”, explains the professor and inventor of the hydroalcoholic gel Didier Pittet.
And Laurent Kaiser, head of the infectious diseases department at HUG, describes Claire-Anne Siegrist as “a friend, a confidante, an extraordinary scientist and a humanist”.
Claire-Anne Siegrist will join the clinic in Carouge (GE) to support children and adolescents through hypnosis. A new chapter for the one who says she has always dreamed of saving babies.
>> Claire-Anne Siegrist’s interview at 7:30 p.m.:
TV subject: Charlotte Onfroy-Barrier and Stephen Mossaz/vajo
Interview by Philippe Revaz
