Sabine Gabrysch is Head of Research Department 2 on Climate Resilience of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) as well as Professor for Climate Change and Health at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin.
Sabine studied medicine in Tübingen and Providence/Rhode Island (USA) and worked clinically in Sweden before completing an MSc and PhD in epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). After acting as head of the Unit of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the Heidelberg Institute of Global Health (HIGH) and deputy head of the Institute, she joined PIK and Charité in June 2019. She holds an Honorary Professorship at LSHTM and continues her affiliation with HIGH.
Her research focus is maternal and child health in low-income settings, in particular early life malnutrition. Guided by the transdisciplinary concept of Planetary Health, she aims to assess health and nutrition impacts of global environmental change and evaluate win-win solutions for the transition towards climate-resilient, sustainable and healthy food systems. In 2018, she received the "Preis für mutige Wissenschaft" (Award for bold research) of the State of Baden-Württemberg for her research project FAARM (Food and Agricultural Approaches to Reducing Malnutrition) in Bangladesh.
Sabine served on the Boards of the Heidelberg Centre for the Environment (2014-2019), the German Society for Epidemiology (2017-2020), the German Alliance for Global Health Research (in 2020) and the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU, 2020-2022). She is a member of the Advisory Council “One Health” of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (since 2020).
Contact
14412 Potsdam
ORCID
| Education | |
|---|---|
| 2014 | Habilitation in Epidemiology, Heidelberg University |
| 2006–2009 | PhD in Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine |
| 2005–2006 | MSc Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine |
| 1998–2000 | Medical doctoral thesis (Dr. med.), Institute of Physiology, Tübingen University |
| 1995–2002 | Medical studies, Tübingen University, with stays in the U.S. and Argentina |
| Positions | |
|---|---|
|
Since 2019 |
Professor for Climate Change and Health, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin Head, Research Department 2, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research |
| 2014–2019 | Head, Unit of Epidemiology and Biostatistics; Deputy Head, Institute of Global Health, Heidelberg University |
| Since 2011 | Honorary Professor, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine |
| 2009–2014 | Researcher / Group leader, Institute of Global Health, Heidelberg University |
| 2006–2009 | Graduate Teaching Assistant, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine |
| 2005 | Senior house officer in infectious diseases, Uppsala University Hospital, Sweden |
| 2003–2004 | Pre-registration house officer at Höglandet’s Hospital, Eksjö, Sweden |
• Community-based participatory interventions to improve the health of humans and ecosystems
• Impact evaluation and process evaluation of complex interventions, including cluster-randomized controlled trials and natural experiments
• Leveraging agriculture to improve nutrition and health while contributing to climate resilience, e.g. homestead gardening, biochar-based fertilizer
• Influence of climate change and agricultural change on diets and health
• Long-term consequences of nutritional and other impacts during pregnancy on health and development of the offspring (fetal programming)
• Links between malnutrition, gut infections, inflammation and microbiome
• Maternal and perinatal mortality, including quality of obstetric and newborn care in low-income settings
Selected papers:
Waid JL, Wendt AS, Kader A, Sobhan S, Gabrysch S. (2023): Impact of a Homestead Food Production program on dietary diversity: Seasonal and annual results from the cluster-randomized FAARM trial in Sylhet, Bangladesh. Journal of Nutrition, Oct 21:S0022-3166(23)72668-0. doi: 10.1016/j.tjnut.2023.10.014.
Lambrecht NJ, Waid JL, Wendt AS, Sobhan S, Kader A, Gabrysch S. (2023): Impact of a Homestead Food Production program on poultry rearing and egg consumption: A cluster-randomized controlled trial in Bangladesh. Maternal & Child Nutrition, e13505. doi: 10.1111/mcn.13505
Waid JL, Wendt AS, Sinharoy S, Kader A, Gabrysch S. (2022): Impact of a homestead food production program on women's empowerment: Pro-WEAI results from the FAARM trial in Bangladesh. World Development, Volume 158, 106001. doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2022.106001.
Gepp S, Waid JL, Brombierstäudl D, Kader A, Müller-Hauser AA, Wendt AS, Dame J, Gabrysch S. (2022). Impact of unseasonable flooding on women's food security and mental health in rural Sylhet, Bangladesh: a longitudinal observational study. The Lancet Planetary Health. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(22)00276-5
Meltzer L, Dame J, Gabrysch S. (2021). Flood affectedness and household adaptation measures in rural Northern Chile: A cross-sectional study in the Upper Huasco Valley. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 64(102499). doi: 10.1016/j.ijdrr.2021.102499
Sutradhar I, Jackson-deGraffenried M, Akter S, McMahon SA, Waid JL, Schmidt HP, Wendt AS, Gabrysch S. (2021): Introducing urine-enriched biochar-based fertilizer for vegetable production: Acceptability and results from rural Bangladesh. Environment, Development and Sustainability. doi: 10.1007/s10668-020-01194-y
Wabnitz K-J, Gabrysch S, Guinto R, Haines A, Hermann M, Howard C, Potter T, Prescott SL, Redvers N (2020): A pledge for planetary health to unite health professionals in the Anthropocene, The Lancet, Sep 30; doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)32039-0.
Vinke K, Gabrysch S, Paoletti E, Rockström J, Schellnhuber HJ (2020): Corona and the climate: a comparison of two emergencies. Global Sustainability, 3, e25, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1017/sus.2020.20.
Wendt AS, Sparling TM, Waid JL, Mueller AA, Gabrysch S. (2019): Food and Agricultural Approaches to Reducing Malnutrition (FAARM): protocol for a cluster-randomised controlled trial to evaluate the impact of a Homestead Food Production programme on undernutrition in rural Bangladesh. BMJ Open, 9(7):e031037.
Gabrysch S, Nesbitt RC, Schoeps A, Hurt L, Soremekun S, Edmond K, Manu A, Lohela TJ, Danso S, Tomlin K, Kirkwood B, Campbell OMR. (2019): Does facility birth reduce maternal and perinatal mortality? A secondary analysis of two RCTs including 119,244 pregnancies in Brong Ahafo, Ghana. The Lancet Global Health, 7(8): e1074–87.
Schoeps A, van Ewijk R, Kynast-Wolf G, Nebié E, Zabré P, Sié A, Gabrysch S. (2018): Ramadan exposure in utero and child mortality in Burkina Faso: Analysis of a population-based cohort including 41,025 children. American Journal of Epidemiology; 187(10):2085-2092.
Gabrysch S. (2018): Imagination challenges in planetary health: re-conceptualising the human-environment relationship. The Lancet Planetary Health, Sep;2(9):e372-e373. (deutsche Übersetzung)
Waid JL, Sinharoy SS, Ali M, Stormer AE, Thilsted SH, Gabrysch S. (2018): Dietary Patterns and Determinants of Changing Diets in Bangladesh from 1985 to 2010. Current Developments in Nutrition, Nov 21;3(4):nzy091.
Gabrysch S, Waid, JL, Wendt AS, Müller AA, Kader A, Gosh U. (2018): Nutritional effects of flooding due to unseasonably early monsoon rainfall in Bangladesh: a cross-sectional study in an ongoing cluster-randomised trial. The Lancet Planetary Health, Vol. 2 Suppl. 1, p. S3.
Lorenz, E, Gabrysch, S. (2017): Covariate-constrained randomization routine for achieving baseline balance in cluster-randomized trials. The Stata Journal, 17(2):503-510.
- Food and Agricultural Approaches to Reducing Malnutrition (FAARM)
- Food Hygiene to reduce Environmental Enteric Dysfunction (FHEED)
- Maternal Exposures to Mycotoxins and Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes (MEMAPO)
- Women’s empowerment in rural Sylhet, Bangladesh
- Biochar-based fertilizers for improved food and nutrition security
- Understanding causes and consequences of dietary change
- Flooding effects on nutrition and health
- Causes of anemia in rural Sylhet, Bangladesh
- Drinking water quality and health impacts in rural Bangladesh (SWAPNO)
Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin:
- Module "Planetary Health – Health of people and the planet in the anthropocene"
- Module "Planetary Health Case Studies – Solutions for healthy people on a healthy planet"
Heidelberg Institute of Global Health:
- MSc International Health: "Nutrition and health in a globalized world – Food for thought"
- Medical elective track Global Health: "Maternal mortality – a problem that could be solved"
- 2019 Recruiting Grant, funded by Stiftung Charité
- 2018 Award for Bold Research (Preis für mutige Wissenschaft), Land Baden-Württemberg
- 2017 Suffrage Science Award, awarded biannually at the Royal Society in London to women scientists "for their scientific achievements and their ability to inspire others"
- 2014 Early Career Scientist Award, CGIAR Independent Science and Partnership Council
- 2012 Oral Presentation Award, 102nd Annual Meeting of the German Society for Tropical Medicine and International Health (DTG), Heidelberg
- 2012 Margarete von Wrangell fellowship, Ministry of Science, Research and Art of Baden-Württemberg and the European Social Fund
- 2012 Daimler and Benz Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship
- 2011 Young Investigator Award for best oral presentation in the theme "Global Problems", 19th IAE World Congress of Epidemiology, Edinburgh
- 2011 Baden-Württemberg Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship
- 2010 Rahel Goitein-Straus Fellowship, Medical Faculty Heidelberg
- 2009 Maria Luisa Ricciardi Award 1st Prize for Best Oral Communication, 6th European Congress on Tropical Medicine & International Health, Verona
Selected interviews
- Ärzteblatt 2022: "Mit Prävention die Gesundheit und das Klima schützen"
- BR24 2022: "Planetary Health - Ein umfassendes Denkmodell gegen planetare Krisen"
- Süddeutsche Zeitung 2021: "Wenn der Klimawandel krank macht"
- Schrot&Korn 2020: "Die Lage ist ernst"
- Ärzteblatt 2020: "Ärzte könnten zu wichtigen Akteuren des Wandels werden"
- Mercator AufRuhr 2020: "Klima-Diagnose noch nicht verstanden"
- Deutschlandfunk 2020: "Corona und Klimawandel"
- Ethik heute 2020: "Gesunde Menschen auf einem gesunden Planeten"
- rbb Talking Science 2020: "Heißer als es gekocht wird"
- Spiegel 2019: "Jeder kann etwas ändern"
- ZEIT 2019: "Ich darf meinen Mund nicht halten"
Opinion articles / commentaries
- "Planetary Health: Die Beziehung zwischen Mensch und Natur neu denken" In: Tobias Esch "Mehr Nichts!" 2021
- Tagesspiegel Background 2021: "Krebs, Klima und Corona – Prioritäten in Krisensituationen" / English version: "Cancer, Climate and Corona: Priorities in times of crisis"
- ZEIT 2020: "Mit der Natur statt gegen sie"; Corona Sustainability Compass 2020: "The black toe and the virus - A wake-up call for planetary health" / "Der schwarze Zeh und das Virus - Ein Weckruf für planetare Gesundheit"
- The Lancet Planetary Health 2018: "Imagination challenges in planetary health: re-conceptualising the human-environment relationship"
Selected talks
- Deutscher Bundesverband für Pflegeberufe 2022: "Planetary Health" (Vortragsfolien)
- Robert Koch Colloquium 2022: "A Planetary Health perspective on the climate crisis" (Slides)
- Münchner Forum Nachhaltigkeit 2022: "Planetary Health – Ein umfassendes Gesundheitskonzept für Mensch und Erde" (Vortragsfolien)
- Be-cause health Antwerp 2022, International conference on climate emergency and health: "Setting the scene: A Planetary Health perspective on the climate crisis"
- WBGU Webinar 2022: "Planetare Gesundheit: Wie wollen wir die Zukunft gestalten?"
- WBGU international webinar 2021: "Planetary Health: How do we want to shape our future?"
- WBGU Video on Planetary Health 2021 (90 sec): Deutsch, English
- Hamburger Klimawoche: "Planetary Health – Gesundheit von Mensch und Planet im Anthropozän" (Vortragsfolien)
- Inauguration of the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence 2021: Panel discussion
- Berlin Epidemiological Methods Colloquium 2021: "A field trial in practice: The FAARM study in Bangladesh"
- Scientist for Future spotlight 2021 "Taba-K-lima - Sucht nach Zigaretten und fossilen Energien"
- Bald schon 5 nach 12 Vortragsreihe Bremen 2021: "Planetary Health - Ein Gesundheitskonzept für Erde und Menschen"
- Global Health Lecture Series Heidelberg 2020: "A planetary health perspective on the climate crisis and COVID-19" (Slides)
- One Planet, One Health, One Future 2020: Introductory panel "Moving forward in a post-COVID19 world"
- Planetary Health Academy 2020: "Planetary Health - Beispiele und Perspektiven" (Materialien)
- Zukunftsforum Public Health 2020: "Von Public Health zu Planetary Health" (Vortragsfolien)
- Neujahrsempfang der Stadt Mannheim 2020: "Wie steht es um die Erde und die Menschen?" (30 min)
- Nobel Prize Dialogue Berlin 2019, Towards Health: Panel discussion on climate change and health
- Leipziger studium universale 2019: "Planetary Health - ein umfassendes Gesundheitskonzept im Anthropozän" (ca. 1h)
