Prof. Dr. Sonja Kahlmeier

Head of Department of Health, Head of Health Research and the research area physical activity

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Place of work
Zürich
Working days
MoTuWeThFr

Career

Prof. Dr. habil. Sonja Kahlmeier has been at the FFHS since November 2018, where she heads both the Health Department and the research there. In addition to general public health topics and teaching, her focus is on the topic of physical activity and health, where she deals with policies and strategies for promoting physical activity, with transport-related and economic approaches. Before FFHS, she worked at the Institute for Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention (EBPI, formerly ISPM) at the University of Zurich, and at the Division for Noncommunicable Diseases and Environment at the European Regional Office of the World Health Organization, where she was responsible for the same topics. For more than 10 years, she also coordinated the European network for the promotion of health-enhancing physical activity (HEPA Europe), whose development she led at the WHO from 2005 onwards. She has also supported the development of the European Strategy for Physical Activity and Health and has authored many widely cited publications on physical activity promotion.

Prof. Dr. habil. Sonja Kahlmeier holds a master’s degree in environmental sciences from ETH Zurich, a doctorate in epidemiology from the University of Basel, a habilitation in public health from the University of Zurich and a professorship at SUPSI.