Ralf Weigel

Prof. Dr. med. Ralf Weigel is the head of the research group at the Friede Springer Endowed Chair for Global Child Health and director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Global Child Health.

The WHO Collaborating Centre is currently focusing primarily on issues relating to primary care for children and adolescents in Europe. Through the Else Kröner Centre for Global Child Health in Malawi, the research group is committed to promoting the healthy development of children worldwide.

In doing so, we focus primarily on overarching, system-determined and socially determined factors, as the fate of a sick child is not decided solely in the consulting room. To be effective, doctors and nursing staff need a functioning environment. We develop our topics based on the questions raised by those affected on the ground and the priorities of decision-makers within the healthcare system. We then examine these topics from the perspective of the child and their rights. In this context, we ask ourselves questions such as:

• How can guidelines for healthcare providers be made easily accessible?
• What is needed to strengthen children’s rights in healthcare worldwide?
• How do young people in Germany view the healthcare system?

We are just as interested in the quality of care for infants in rural Malawi as we are in that for young people in a major German city. The home environment, nutritional status, the level of preventive care and parents’ understanding of treatment can have a decisive influence on the course of treatment.

In addition to research questions, the training and further education of healthcare professionals on the ground is a key priority for us. In Germany, many students and young doctors wish to contribute to global child health. Together with our partners, we can help prepare them for such assignments. We support students and postgraduates who wish to further their academic and personal development in this field.

Current projects of our working group are:

• Umoyo wa Ana Athu (Our children's health), Malawi, duration 01/2022–12/2026 (Carsten Krüger, Megumi Nagase)
• People’s Voice Survey (Ralf Weigel, Megumi Nagase)
• Else Kröner Centre for Global Child Health, Malawi 04/2025 – 03/2030 (Ralf Weigel, Martina Fier)
• WHO Collaborating Centre for Global Child Health 10/2025–09/2029 (Ralf Weigel, Waseem Yousaf, Paula Rauschendorf)

Projects completed by our working group include:

• Paediatricians for Malawi, duration 09/2021–12/2025 (Ralf Weigel)
• Establishment of ‘Emergency, Triage, Assessment and Treatment plus’ (ETAT+) in paediatric emergency care in the Alaotra Mangoro region, Madagascar, duration 07/2022 – 06/2025 (Martina Fier)
• Strengthening children’s rights in healthcare at the Dedza District Hospital, Malawi, duration 03/2023 – 08/2025 (Martina Fier)
   

Publications by the group:

• PD Dr Carsten Krüger, academic with postdoctoral lecturing qualification
• Martina Fier, Research Assistant
• Megumi Nagase, Research Assistant
• Dr Paula Rauschendorf, Research Assistant
• Muhammad Waseem Yousaf, Research Assistant
• Kevin Rennspiess (Secretariat)
• Pablo Freudenthal (student assistant)

Guest Scientist 

Malabika Sarker, MD, MPH, PhD

Associate Dean for Global Engagement, Professor of the Practice of Behavioral and Social Science

Brown University School of Public Health, Center for Global Public Health, USA

https://global.sph.brown.edu/people/malabika-sarker

Susanne Marie Carai MD

Consultant to the  WHO Office on Quality of Care and Patient Safety 

https://www.who.int/europe/teams/office-on-quality-of-care-patient-safety/about-us

WHO Athens office for quality of care and patient safety

Co-founder odoVita gGmbH, Germany/Philippines

 www.odovita.org

Doctoral Students:

• Katharina Altmann
• Yannick Panse
• Malte Braun
• Andreas Schindele
• Karen Fahlbusch
• Judith Steinhorst
• Fabia Duttenhofer
• Pacis-Alarine Irambona
• Danielle Blom (Supervisor PD Dr. Carsten Krüger)
• Viktoria Radounikli (Supervisor PD Dr. Carsten Krüger)
• Maike Neunziger (Supervisor PD Dr. Carsten Krüger)
• Kathrin Vogel (Supervisor PD Dr. Carsten Krüger)
• Maeva Kirchschlager (Supervisor PD Dr. Carsten Krüger)

Paediatrician

To the CV

• Advanced modules of the MSc International Health (tropEd)

  - “Equity and child (health) rights”

  to register
   

  - "Policy and Practice of Global Child Health " 

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• Problem-oriented learning (semesters 1-4, model degree programme in medicine at the UW/H)
   

Global child health

• We work closely with the Gesellschaft für Tropenpädiatrie & Internationale Kindergesundheit (GTP) e.V., the German Alliance for Global Health Research, the Global Health Hub Germany, the clinic partnerships of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and the Else Kröner-Fresenius-Stiftung.
• How is the COVID-19 pandemic affecting the health and well-being of children? 14 reports look at the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children's health, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.
• Member of the editorial group for the WHO Pocket Book of Primary Health Care for Children and Adolescents (2022) and co-editor of a related evidence synthesis published in a BMC Pediatrics supplement.
• Member of the Child Health Accountability Tracking (CHAT) working group since 2018
• WHO Collaborating Centre for Global Child Health since October 2025