Marylyn M. Addo is an internist, clinical scientist, and specialist in infectious diseases and vaccine development. She completed her medical studies in Bonn, Strasbourg, and Lausanne, earning her doctorate in 1998. She further advanced her expertise at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, where she obtained a Master’s degree in Applied Molecular Biology of Infectious Diseases and the Diploma in Tropical Medicine (DTM&H).

Her clinical and scientific training took her to renowned international centers: following research stays at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Harvard Medical School (HMS) in Boston, focusing on HIV immunology, she held several leadership positions at the Ragon Institute (MGH, MIT, Harvard) and the Harvard Center for AIDS Research (CFAR).

In 2013, she was appointed to the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE) as a W2 Professor for Emerging Infections and, since 2017, as a W3 Professor for Infectious Diseases. At UKE, she leads the Department of Infectiology and Tropical Medicine and is also the founding director of the Institute for Infectious Disease and Vaccine Development (IIRVD), which opened in 2022. Her research groups work at both UKE and the Bernhard-Nocht-Institute for Tropical Medicine, focusing on emerging viral diseases, virus immunology, and innovative vaccine strategies—particularly clinical studies on vaccines against MERS, Ebola, and coronaviruses.

In October 2024, Prof. Addo assumed the role of spokesperson for the DFG Collaborative Research Center 1648 "Emerging Viruses: Pathogenesis, Structure, Immunity. " This interdisciplinary project aims to investigate the key interactions between emerging viruses and their hosts, as well as the molecular mechanisms of infection processes. Since 2025 Prof. Addo is the Deputy Chairwoman of the Executive Board at DZIF .

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