Regina Hofmann-Lehmann

Board Member

Regina Hofmann-Lehmann is professor for Laboratory Medicine at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine (Vetsuisse Faculty), University of Zurich. She was studying retrovirus infections at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School in Boston from 1998 to 2001. In 2004 she received as the only veterinarian so far, a professorship of the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). From 2010 to 2021 she served as President of the Swiss Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians.

Her main research interests are in clinical infectiology with a focus on retroviruses, coronaviruses including SARS-CoV-2 and other infections particularly in domestic and wild felids. She is the author of >300 publications in peer-reviewed journals in this field. She has received funding by the SNSF since 1998 and her research involves collaborations with many institutions worldwide.

Since 2011 she is Head of the Clinical Laboratory (www.vetlabor.ch). The multivalent laboratory receives samples from farm, companion and exotic animals particularly from the University Teaching Hospital but also from zoos and private clinics. It is the only laboratory in Switzerland accredited by the European College of Veterinary Clinical Pathology (ECVCP) and provides special expertise in cytology, flow cytometry and serological and molecular analyses of infectious diseases.

Since 2011 she is also Head of the Center for Clinical Studies (www.zks.uzh.ch), a core facility dedicated to support the laboratory-based clinical research. The center has more than 120 users from 31 research groups.

In 2017 she was elected head of the Department of Clinical Diagnostics and Services and with that became member of the executive board of the University Animal Hospital at the University of Zurich.

My list of ten selected publications

  • Willi B, ML Meli, C Cafarelli, UO Gilli, A Kipar, A Hubbuch, B Riond, J Howard, D Schaarschmidt, W Regli, R Hofmann-Lehmann. 2022. Cytauxzoon europaeus  infections in domestic cats in Switzerland and in European wildcats in France: a tale that started more than two decades ago. Parasites & Vectors 15:19. DOI: 10.1186/s13071-021-05111-8. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34998440
  • Jähne S, S Felten, M Bergmann, K Erber, K Matiasek, ML Meli, R Hofmann-Lehmann, K Hartmann. 2022. Detection of feline coronavirus variants in cats without feline infectious peritonitis. Viruses 14, 1671. DOI: 10.3390/v14081671. PMID: 36016293. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9412601/
  • Krentz D, K Zenger, M Alberer, S Felten, M Bergmann, R Dorsch, K Matiasek, L Kolberg, R Hofmann-Lehmann, ML Meli, AM Spiri, J Horak, S Weber, CM Holicki, MH Groschup, Y Zablotski, E Lescrinier, B Koletzko, U von Both, K Hartmann. 2021. Curing Cats with Feline Infectious Peritonitis with an Oral Multi-Component Drug Containing GS-441524. Viruses 13, 2228. DOI: 10.3390/v13112228. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34835034
  • Klaus J, ML Meli, B Willi, S Nadeau, C Beisel, T Stadler, ETH SARS-CoV-2 Sequencing Team, H Egberink, S Zhao, H Lutz, B Riond, N Rösinger, H Stalder, S Renzullo, R Hofmann-Lehmann. 2021. Detection and genome sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 in a domestic cat with respiratory signs in Switzerland. Viruses 13. 496. Doi:10.3390/v13030496. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33802899
  • Spiri AM, B Riond, M Stirn, M Novacco, ML Meli, FS Boretti, I Herbert, MJ Hosie, R Hofmann-Lehmann. 2021. Modified-live FCV vaccination reduces viral RNA loads, duration of RNAemia, and the severity of clinical signs after heterologous FCV challenge. Viruses 13, 1505. Doi:10.3390/v13081505. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34452370
  • Hofmann-Lehmann R, K Hartmann. 2020. Feline leukaemia virus infection – A practical approach to diagnosis. J Feline Med Surg 22:831-846. Doi: 10.1177/1098612X20941785. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32845225
  • Novacco M, S Sugiarto, B Willi, J Baumann, AM Spiri, A Oestmann, B Riond, FS Boretti, H Naegeli, R Hofmann-Lehmann. 2018. Consecutive antibiotic treatment with doxycycline and marbofloxacin clears bacteremia in Mycoplasma haemofelis-infected cats. Vet Microbiol 217:112-120. Doi: 10.1016/j.vetmic.2018.03.006. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29615243
  • Willi B, Spiri AM, Melia ML, Samman A, Hoffmann K, Sydler T, Cattoria V, Graf F, Diserens KA,  Padrutt I, Nesina S, Berger A, Ruetten M, Riond B, Hosie MJ, Hofmann-Lehmann R. 2016. Molecular characterization and virus neutralization patterns of severe, non-epizootic forms of feline calicivirus infections resembling virulent systemic disease in cats in Switzerland and in Liechtenstein. Vet Microbiol 182:202-12. Doi: 10.1016/j.vetmic.2015.10.015. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26711049
  • Nesina S, Helfer-Hungerbuehler K, Riond B, Boretti FS, Willi B, Marina M, Grest P, Hofmann-Lehmann R. 2015. Retroviral DNA—the silent winner: blood transfusion containing latent feline leukemia provirus causes infection and disease in naïve recipient cats. Retrovirology 12:105. doi: 10.1186/s12977-015-0231-z. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26689419
  • Helfer-Hungerbuehler AK, AM Spiri, B Riond, P Grest, FS Boretti, Regina Hofmann-Lehmann. 2015. No benefit of therapeutic vaccination in clinically healthy cats persistently infected with feline leukemia virus. Vaccine. 33:1578-85. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2015.02.009. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25698488