Professor Zimmermann was previously Visiting Professor of Human Nutrition and was awarded PI status earlier this year. He said: ‘I am honoured to receive the title of Full Professor. My decision to move to Oxford was inspired by the opportunity to collaborate with leading haematologists and immunologists at the Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine.’
The Zimmermann research group aims to improve iron nutrition and reduce anaemia in women and children, directly supporting the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development of Goal of ‘Zero Hunger’. Using stable iron tracers, the research group measures iron absorption, utilisation and loss in healthy women and children and in diseases such as malaria, diarrhoea, tuberculosis, HIV and thalassemia.
Professor Zimmermann received his M.D. from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, USA, and did his postgraduate medical training at the University of California in San Francisco and Berkeley. He has held professorships at the ETH Zurich in Switzerland and Wageningen University in the Netherlands and was named a Web of Science Highly Cited Researcher (Top 1%) 2017-2022. Currently, Professor Zimmermann is a Guest Professor in the Endocrinology and Diabetes Section at the Hospital of the University of Zurich and Chair of the Iodine Global Network - an international NGO.
The Recognition of Distinction is an annual exercise to confer the title of professor to those who make a significant and sustained academic contribution to the University’s work. Information about the criteria and application process can be found on the Medical Sciences Division webpages.