These days, the public doesn't hang on the lips of actors, musicians or top models. In contrast, the opinions of medical professionals and virologists, such as Christian Drosten (48) or Jonas Schmidt-Chanasit (40), are much more interesting during the Corona crisis. We introduce you to the leading corona experts in Germany.
Christian Drosten: Corona reconnaissance of the nation
There is hardly a man who speaks more often in the media than Christian Drosten. For the "Tagesspiegel" he is "Germany's most influential doctor", the "Süddeutsche Zeitung" calls him the "Corona Enlightenment of the Nation". The fact is: Drosten is head of virology at the Berlin Charité; his specialty is emerging viruses. The 48-year-old is particularly knowledgeable about coronaviruses: Among other things, he was the first to decode the genome of the SARS virus, which triggered several epidemics of atypical pneumonia, particularly in Asia and Canada, in early 2003. For this virus, Rusten's team was able to develop a rapid diagnostic test.
The virologist is also considered one of the leading experts with regard to the current SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. In his NDR podcast, the scientist delivers a "Corona Update" every day, evaluates measures to protect the population and describes the current state of research. Drosten was also recently on the podcast "Fest und fluschig" by comedians Jan Böhmermann (39) and Olli Schulz (46) and spoke for the first time about his personal feelings about the virus. The 48-year-old admitted that he himself could not always see how serious the danger had become. "I'm just a human being too. I have a family, a child and parents. I have to suppress that too."
Hendrik Streeck: He discovered new symptoms
Hendrik Streek (42) is actually a specialist for HI and hepatitis viruses. However, during the Corona crisis, the specialist in virology and infection epidemiology shifted his focus of research. Hardly any researcher in Germany has seen as many patients who have Covid-19 as the professor of virology and director of the Institute for Virology and HIV Research at the Medical Faculty of the University of Bonn. So it was he who realized that loss of smell and taste are also symptoms of the disease.
Alexander Kekulé: researcher with celebrity gene
Alexander S. Kekulé (61) is a director at the Institute for Medical Microbiology at the University of Halle. He was practically born with a talent for science: he is the great-grandson of the renowned German chemist August Kekulé (1829-1896), who laid the foundations for the modern structure theory of organic chemistry. Kekulé is also prominent on the part of his parents: his mother Dagmar (82, "Everyone was silent") is an author, his father Wolfgang Urchs (1922-2016, "Peterchen's moon trip") was a director. So it happened that the professor had the lead role in the film "Bübchen" by Roland Klick under the actor name Sascha Urchs. Kekulé has three sons and a daughter.
Jonas Schmidt-Chanasit: The youngster among the experts
Jonas Schmidt-Chanasit (40) has headed the WHO cooperation center at the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine in Hamburg since 2010. The 40-year-old is increasingly researching viruses that can be transmitted by mosquitoes. During the recent Ebola epidemic and the outbreak of the Zika virus, the professor became better known in Germany. Schmidt-Chanasit is married, father of a son and lives with his family in Berlin and Bangkok.