Richard A. Neher

☆ Save On Wikipedia ↗
Richard A. Neher
Richard Neher (2025)
Born (1979-08-30) 30 August 1979
Göttingen, Germany
Scientific career
FieldsBiophysicist
InstitutionsMax-Planck-Institut, Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, Biozentrum University of Basel

Richard A. Neher (born 30 August 1979) is a German biophysicist and Professor of Computational Modelling of Biological Processes at the Biozentrum, University of Basel, Switzerland.

Life and career

Richard Neher was born in Göttingen, West Germany. He studied physics at the University of Göttingen and LMU Munich between 1998 and 2003. He obtained his PhD in 2007 with a thesis on the dynamic aspects of DNA replication.[1] Following his doctoral studies, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara and later led a research group leader at the Max Planck Institute for Biology Tübingen, Germany.[2] In 2017, he joined the Biozentrum of the University of Basel as an Associate Professor for Computational Modelling of Biological Processes, and was promoted to Full Professor in 2025.[3]

Richard Neher is the eldest son of Nobel Prize winner Erwin Neher and his wife Eva-Maria Neher.[4]

Research

Neher's work focuses on the evolution of viruses and bacteria. His research group develops software and algorithms to track the spreading of these organisms and to analyse their genetic changes. He co-founded Nextstrain, an open-source platform for real-time tracking of viral pathogens, and has developed methods for predicting influenza virus evolution.[5][6] During the COVID-19 pandemic, he was a member of the Swiss National COVID-19 Science Task Force, advising the federal government.[7]

In addition to SARS-CoV-2, Neher also studies the evolution of human viruses such as HIV, influenza, and RSV. Another focus of his work is on the dynamics of bacterial "accessory genomes" acquired through horizontal gene transfer, which can contribute to environmental adaptation and antibiotic resistance.[8][9]

Awards and honours

  • 2009: Harvey L. Karp Discovery Award[10]
  • 2011: European Research Council Starting Grant [11]
  • 2012: ARCHES award of the German Secretary of Science and Education [12]
  • 2016 Open Science Prize (Phase I, mit Trevor Bedford)[13]
  • 2017 Open Science Prize (Phase II, mit Trevor Bedford)
  • 2024: National Prize for Open Research Data (ORD), Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences for the joint project "Pathoplexus"[14]

References

  1. Dynamic aspects of DNA – DNA-slippage and nucleosome dynamics
  2. "Curriculum Vitae". Biozentrum.unibas.ch. Retrieved 8 August 2025.
  3. "Beschlussprotokoll" (PDF) (in German). unibas.ch. Retrieved 8 August 2025.
  4. "Erwin Neher, Biographical". nobelprize.org. Retrieved 8 August 2025.
  5. .Ding, Wei; Baumdicker, Franz; Neher, Richard (9 January 2018). "panX: pan-genome analysis and exploration". Nucleic Acids Research. 46 (1): e5. doi:10.1093/nar/gkx977. PMC 5758898. PMID 29077859.
  6. Molari, Marco; Shaw, Liam P; Neher, Richard (6 January 2025). "Quantifying the Evolutionary Dynamics of Structure and Content in Closely Related E. coli Genomes". Mol Biol Evol. Research. 42 (1) msae272. doi:10.1093/molbev/msae272. PMC 11739808. PMID 39750749.
  7. "Das Expert:innengremium" (in German). sciencetaskforce.ch. Retrieved 8 August 2025.
  8. Neher, Richard A; Russell, Colin A; Shraiman, Boris I (11 November 2014). "Predicting evolution from the shape of genealogical trees". eLife. 11 (2) e03568. doi:10.7554/eLife.03568. PMC 4227306. PMID 25385532.
  9. Barrat-Charlaix, Pierre; Neher, Richard A (27 December 2024). "Eco-evolutionary dynamics of adapting pathogens and host immunity". eLife. 13 RP97350. doi:10.7554/eLife.97350. PMC 11677248. PMID 39728926.
  10. "Sex, Viruses, and the Statistical Physics of Evolution". ucsb.edu. 6 August 2009. Retrieved 11 August 2025.
  11. "ERC Starting Grant 2010" (PDF). europa.eu. Retrieved 11 August 2025.
  12. "Fromer Arches Awardees". mpg.de. Retrieved 11 August 2025.
  13. "Real-time tool for predicting outbreaks advances in Open Science Prize competition". fredhutch.org. 9 May 2016. Retrieved 8 August 2025.
  14. "Open Science rewarded: Four Projects to receive the National Prize for Open Research Data". swiss-academies.ch. 27 November 2024. Retrieved 8 August 2025.