Holger Jens Schunemann

Professor Schünemann received his MD degree (1993) and a “doctor medicinae” degree (1994) from the Medical School of Hannover where he also began residency training in internal and respiratory medicine. He went on to work in cellular and molecular lung biology at UB researching expression of cell adhesion molecules (integrins) in early postnatal lung development.  Realizing the importance of high-quality skills in data analysis, general health research methods and developing a stronger sense for patient and population focused research he studied epidemiology and biostatistics during his postdoctoral fellowship (M.Sc. in Epidemiology, 1997).  He then conducted population-based studies on the association between micronutrients, oxidative stress, and respiratory health leading to a Ph.D. degree (Epidemiology & Community Medicine, 2000) and completed training to qualify for certification in internal medicine and preventive medicine/public health at UB, where he joined the faculty in 2000.

From 2005 to 2009 he was at the Italian National Cancer Center in Rome, Italy, serving as interim chair of the department of Epidemiology from 2007 to 2009, before moving to McMaster University as full-time Professor and to become Chair of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics in 2009, widely considered the birthplace of evidence-based health care and problem-based learning. He completed his second and final term as chair in June 2019 and then lead the Michael G DeGroote Cochrane Canada and McMaster GRADE Centres and was director of Cochrane Canada. He joined Humanitas University as part-time and then as full-time faculty member to lead the Clinical Epidemiology and Research Center (CERC) and to become Vice-President for Internationalization.

Since 2000, he helped reshaping of methodology for guideline development spanning clinical medicine to public health and contributed methodologically and practically to knowledge synthesis research, foremost through his leadership of the GRADE working group (www.gradeworkinggroup.org) that he co-chairs since 2009. He also leads the Humanitas University GRADE Center and co-leads the Italian GRADE Network. As author of over 900 publications (h-index 186/115 google scholar/web of science) he is among the 500 most cited scientists globally. He has been advisor and chair of many guideline expert groups for WHO, the European Commission, ministries of health, other governmental organizations and professional societies.

Academic honors, awards and prices

• University of Buffalo, International Distinguished Alumnus Award, May 2017
• World Allergy Organization, Presidential Recognition and Collaboration Award, December 2011
• World Allergy Organization, Scientific Achievement Award, December 2009
• Postdoctoral Fellowship Award by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) and Hannover Medical School, 1994 – 1996