Formation of pathogen vacuoles: the Legionella paradigm

Hubert Hilbi

Dr. Hilbi studied biochemistry at the ETH in Zürich from 1985 until 1990 and did his diploma and PhD at the Institute of Microbiology from 1990 until 1994. In 1994, he worked as a postdoctoral scientist at the same institute. In 1996, Dr. Hilbi moved to the New York University Medical Center and in 2000 to Columbia University where he worked until 2002. In 2002, Dr. Hilbi was awarded an "SNF Förderungsprofessur" to work as an Assistant Professor of Cellular Microbiology at the institute of microbiology (ETH in Zürich). In 2009, Dr. Hilbi moved to the Institute of Molecular Life Sciences at the University of Zürich, and recently, he was appointed as a professor at the Pettenkofer-Institute, Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich.

Dr. Hilbi studies the pathogenesis of Legionella pneumophila and Shigella flexneri, the causative agents of Legionnaires' disease and bacillary dysentery, respectively. His research currently focuses on the molecular and cell biological mechanisms by which these bacterial pathogens survive within and kill phagocytic host cells such as macrophages and amoebae.