糖心Volg

Petra Zimmermann

MD, PhD, A/Prof

photo

 petra.zimmermann@unifr.ch
 +41 26 300 9447
 

Senior Researcher
Medicine Section

ARS 02 bu. 187
Rte des Arsenaux 41
1700 Fribourg
ARS 02, 187
+41 26 300 9447

Biography

Petra Zimmermann, MD, PhD, trained as a Paediatrician and Infectious Diseases Specialist at the University Children’s Hospital of Berne, Switzerland and at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, Australia. Dr Zimmermann completed her medical thesis ‘Diagnosis and Management of Travellers returning from a developing Country’ at the Clinic for Infectious Diseases and Travel Medicine at the University Hospital of Berne and her PhD thesis ‘Factors that influence vaccine responses during the first year of life‘ at University of Melbourne, Australia. Her research interests include vaccine responses, non-specific effects of vaccines and the association between the microbiome, especially the breast milk microbiota and immune-mediated diseases. During her career, she obtained several prestige research awards and grants and published numerous papers in paediatrics and infectiology in international journals.

Research and publications

  • Publications ZIMMERMANN Petra
    107 publications


    Petra Zimmermann, David M. Patrick, Stuart E. Turvey, Meghan B. Azad, Angela Dramowski, Hannah Lishman, Frontiers in Allergy (2025) | Journal article


    Sarah Schoch, Salome Kurth, Mohammed Al-Andoli, Petra Zimmermann, Andjela Markovic, Christophe M眉hlematter, Matthieu Beaugrand, Oskar Jenni, Rabia Liamlahi, Jean-Claude Walser, Dennis Nielsen, (2025) | Preprint


    Petra Zimmermann, Juliane Wurm, Nicole Ritz, Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (2025) | Journal article


    Paula Momo Cabrera, Nicholas A. Bokulich, Petra Zimmermann, Jasna Kovac, Elliot S. Friedman, Maria Ingrid Cecilia Rubin, Microbiology Spectrum (2025) | Journal article


    Salome Kurth, Delphine Hess, Paula Momo Cabrera, Nicholas A. Bokulich, Petra Zimmermann, Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal (2025) | Journal article


    Martin Stocker, Petra Zimmermann, Salome Kurth, Stamatios Giannoukos, Nicholas A Bokulich, BMJ Open (2025) | Journal article


    Petra Zimmermann, Quynh A. Duong, Quynh A Duong, Nigel Curtis, Journal of Infection (2025) | Journal article

  • Research projects

    Antibiotic-induced disruption of the maternal and infant microbiota and adverse health outcomes 鈥� The ABERRANT study
    Status: Ongoing

    Start 01.11.2020
    End 31.05.2026
    Funding SNSF 
    Antibiotics are among the most commonly used drugs in infants and children. The use of antibiotics causes profound changes in the microbiota. Growing evidence shows that the composition of the intestinal microbiota plays an important role in the development and regulation of the immune system, especially in the early-life 鈥榗ritical window鈥� during which the microbiota and the immune response develop concurrently. Preliminary studies suggest that disruption of intestinal microbiota in this critical period is associated with the development of numerous immune-mediated and non-immune-mediated diseases, including allergy, eczema, asthma, inflammatory bowel disease, and diabetes mellitus, as well as obesity. In addition, the rise in antibiotic resistance is one of the most critical threats to public health. The magnitude of the effect of intrapartum or early-life antibiotics on breast milk and infant intestinal microbiota, and whether effects are only short-term or persist long-term remain uncertain. In this prospective study, we will determine the effect of (i) maternal intrapartum antibiotics and (ii) infant antibiotic exposure in the first year of life on the composition of breast milk and the infant intestinal microbiota, as well as the association with adverse health outcomes up to two years of age. We will also investigate the impact of antibiotic exposure on the development and persistence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria colonising infants. We will use next-generation sequencing, which enables us to not only to identify bacterial species, but also resistance genes and other important components of the microbiota, such as archaea, eukaryotes (fungi) and viruses. We expect antibiotics to have a major impact on the composition of the breast milk and intestinal microbiota. Determining the relationship between antibiotic exposure, changes in maternal breast milk and infant intestinal microbiota, and the association with adverse health outcomes, will provide evidence to strengthen antibiotic stewardship advocacy. Additionally, it will form the basis for evidence-based interventions to prevent or reverse adverse changes to the microbiota in situations where antibiotics cannot be avoided, including modifying the intestinal microbiota with directed pre- and probiotics or bacteriophages.