PD Dr. sc. nat. Oliver Grübner
Senior Lecturer and Researcher in Epidemiology and Public Health
T +41 41 229 59 01 • Alpenquai 4, Room 7 • oliver.gruebner@unilu.ch
CV
At the University of Lucerne, Oliver teaches courses on Digital and Spatial Epidemiology, Epidemiology, Big Data in Public Health, and Regression Analysis. His teaching combines methodological rigor with applied, data-driven learning, fostering an understanding of how spatial and digital methods can be used to address contemporary public health challenges.
Before joining the University of Lucerne in 2024, Oliver led the Digital Health Geography Group at the University of Zurich, affiliated with the Digital Society Initiative (DSI). He has held research positions at Harvard University, Columbia University, and the Robert Koch Institute, and worked with the University of Bern on spatial health research in East Africa.
He earned his PhD in Health Geography and Spatial Epidemiology from Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin in 2011 and completed his habilitation (Venia legendi) in Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Zurich in 2024.
He currently serves as co-chair of the Digital and Spatial Public Health Working Group at Public Health Schweiz and as president of the patient organization Duchenne-Schweiz.
Research
Oliver’s research focuses on the intersection of digital and spatial epidemiology, using geospatial analytics and digital data sources to understand how social and environmental factors influence health and healthcare access.
Building on his background in geography and public health, his work explores regional disparities in health service utilization, spatial accessibility of paediatric care, and digital approaches to mental health research. Recent projects have addressed digital communication tools in paediatric neuromuscular diseases, data donation for population mental health, and the integration of big data for public health surveillance.
Projects
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Was weiss Google über unsere mentale Gesundheit?
2024–2025 -
Prevention and management of sport-related traumatic brain injury among children and youth
2023–2025 -
Raising awareness for mental health in people affected by paediatric neuromuscular diagnoses - digital platform needs for non-digital applications in the everyday life of affected patients and family members
2021–2022 -
Digitizing and Mapping historical epidemics
2021–2021 -
What is the proportion of robots in Tweets?
2020–2021 -
A Geo-Repository for Social Media Mental Health Surveillance
2018–2019
Publications
- Grübner, O. (2025). Spatiotemporal clusters of acute respiratory infections associated with socioeconomic, meteorological, and air pollution factors in South Punjab, Pakistan. BMC Public Health, 25 (1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-025-21741-4
- Grübner, O. (2025). Imbalanced access to pediatric primary care in Switzerland: geographic differences and modeled future challenges. European Journal of Pediatrics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-025-06441-w
- Grübner, O. (2025). Mitigating Sports-Related Concussions in Adolescent Athletes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Communication and Education Interventions. Public Health Reviews, 46. https://doi.org/10.3389/phrs.2025.1608153
- Grübner, O. (2025). One size doesn’t fit all: regional dynamics in pediatric emergency visits during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Frontiers in Public Health, 13, 1574208 ff. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2025.1574208
- Grübner, O. (2025). Pneumonia incidence and determinants in South Punjab, Pakistan (2016–2020): a spatial epidemiological study at Tehsil-level. Int J Health Geogr; International Journal of Health Geographics, 1, 29. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12942-025-00420-y
- Grübner, O. (2025). Smart Citizens Enabling Resilient Neighbourhoods (SCERN): Participatory mapping platform for resilience planning at a neighbourhood scale. Cities, 165. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2025.106101
- Grübner, O. (2024). Pediatric Neuromuscular Diseases and Psychosocial Wellbeing: Why We Also Need to Invest in Digital Platforms. International journal of public health. https://doi.org/10.3389/ijph.2024.1607460
- Grübner, O. (2023). Challenges and best practices for digital unstructured data enrichment in health research: A systematic narrative review. PLOS Digital Health; PLOS, 2 (10). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pdig.0000347
- Grübner, O. (2023). A global portrait of expressed mental health signals towards COVID-19 in social media space. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation, 116. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jag.2022.103160
- Grübner, O. (2023). From pandemic to endemic: Spatial-temporal patterns of influenza-like illness incidence in a Swiss canton, 1918–1924. Economics and Human Biology, 50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ehb.2023.101271
- Grübner, O. (2023). Mental health challenges and digital platform opportunities in patients and families affected by pediatric neuromuscular diseases - experiences from Switzerland. DIGITAL HEALTH. https://doi.org/10.1177/20552076231213700
- Quiroga Gutierrez, A. C., Lindegger, D., Taji Heravi, A., Stojanov, T., Schacher, M., Elayan, S., … Grübner, O. (2023). Reproducibility and Scientific Integrity of Big Data Research in Urban Public Health and Digital Epidemiology: A Call to Action. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20021473
- Grübner, O. (2022). Opportunities and challenges of using social media big data to assess mental health consequences of the COVID-19 crisis and future major events. Discover Mental Health, 2 (1). https://doi.org/10.1007/s44192-022-00017-y
- Grübner, O. (2022). Challenges and best practices for digital unstructured data enrichment in health research: a systematic narrative review. medRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.07.28.22278137
- Grübner, O. (2022). Detecting Suicide Ideation in the Era of Social Media: The Population Neuroscience Perspective. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.652167
- Grübner, O. (2022). Digital Platform Uses for Help and Support Seeking of Parents With Children Affected by Disabilities: Scoping Review. Journal of Medical Internet Research. https://doi.org/10.2196/37972
- Grübner, O. (2022). Does diet map with mortality? Ecological association of dietary patterns with chronic disease mortality and its spatial dependence in Switzerland. The British journal of nutrition. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0007114521001525
- Grübner, O. (2022). Ethical issues of collecting, storing, and analyzing geo-referenced tweets for mental health research. Digital Health, 8. https://doi.org/10.1177/20552076221092539
- Grübner, O., Wei, W., Ulyte, A., von Wyl, V., Dressel, H., Brüngger, B., … Schwenkglenks, M. (2022). Small Area Variation of Adherence to Clinical Recommendations: An Example from Switzerland. Health Services Research and Managerial Epidemiology. https://doi.org/10.1177/23333928221097741
- Grübner, O. (2022). Social media mining under the COVID-19 context: Progress, challenges, and opportunities. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation, 113. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jag.2022.102967
- Grübner, O. (2021). Are weak or negative clinical recommendations associated with higher geographical variation in utilisation than strong or positive recommendations? Cross-sectional study of 24 healthcare services. BMJ Open; BMJ, 11 (5). https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2020-044090
- Grübner, O. (2021). Geospatial Analysis of COVID-19: A Scoping Review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18 (5), 2336 ff. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18052336
- Grübner, O. (2021). Public health interventions, epidemic growth, and regional variation of the 1918 influenza pandemic outbreak in a Swiss canton and its greater regions. Annals of Internal Medicine, 174 (4). https://doi.org/10.7326/M20-6231
- Grübner, O. (2021). Space-Time Dependence of Emotions on Twitter after a Natural Disaster. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18 (10), 5292 ff. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18105292
- Grübner, O. (2021). Surgical procedures in inpatient versus outpatient settings and its potential impact on follow-up costs. Health Policy, 125 (10). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthpol.2021.07.006
- Grübner, O. (2021). Temporal trends and regional disparities in cancer screening utilization: an observational Swiss claims-based study. BMC Public Health, 21 (1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-020-10079-8
- Grübner, O. (2021). Can Big Data Be Used to Monitor the Mental Health Consequences of COVID-19? International Journal of Public Health, 66. https://doi.org/10.3389/ijph.2021.633451
- Tamar, E., Maani, N., Sykora, M., Elayan, S., Hswen, Y., Müller, W., … Grübner, O. (2021). Real-time geospatial surveillance of localized emotional stress responses to COVID-19: A proof of concept analysis. Health and Place, 70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2021.102598
- Grübner, O. (2020). Degree of regional variation and effects of health insurance-related factors on the utilization of 24 diverse healthcare services - a cross-sectional study. BMC Health Services Research, 20 (1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-020-05930-y
- Grübner, O. (2020). Going beyond the mean: economic benefits of myocardial infarction secondary prevention. BMC Health Services Research, 20 (1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-020-05985-x
- Grübner, O. (2020). Exploring geographic variation of and influencing factors for utilization of four diabetes management measures in Swiss population using claims data. BMJ open diabetes research & care. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjdrc-2019-001059
- Grübner, O. (2020). Insights into the protective effects of influenza vaccination: More hospitalizations but lower follow-up mortality during the 2014/15 influenza season in a Swiss cohort. Vaccine. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2020.06.019
- Grübner, O. (2020). Variation of colorectal, breast and prostate cancer screening activity in Switzerland: Influence of insurance, policy and guidelines. PloS one. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0231409
- Grübner, O. (2019). Measuring diabetes guideline adherence with claims data: Systematic construction of indicators and related challenges. BMJ Open, 9 (4). https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2018-027138
- Grübner, O. (2019). Digital Innovations for Global Mental Health: Opportunities for Data Science, Task Sharing, and Early Intervention. Current Treatment Options in Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40501-019-00186-8
- Grübner, O. (2018). Item ordering and computerized classification tests with cluster-based scoring: An investigation of the countdown method. Psychological Assessment, 30 (2). https://doi.org/10.1037/pas0000470
- Grübner, O. (2018). Modeling and mapping the burden of disease in Kenya. Scientific Reports, 8 (1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-28266-4
- Grübner, O. (2018). Variation of preoperative chest radiography utilization in Switzerland and its influencing factors: a multilevel study with claims data. Scientific Reports, 8 (1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-35856-9
- Grübner, O. (2018). Disaster Survivors’ Anticipated Received Support in a Future Disaster; Disaster Survivors` Anticipated Received Support in a Future Disaster. Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness. https://doi.org/10.1017/dmp.2017.148
- Grübner, O. (2018). Spatio-Temporal Distribution of Negative Emotions in New York City After a Natural Disaster as Seen in Social Media. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15102275
- Grübner, O. (2017). Customized computer-based administration of the PCL-5 for the efficient assessment of PTSD: A proof-of-principle study. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 9 (3). https://doi.org/10.1037/tra0000226
- Grübner, O. (2017). A novel surveillance approach for disaster mental health. PLOS ONE. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0181233
- Grübner, O. (2017). Big data opportunities for social behavioral and mental health research. Social Science and Medicine, 189. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.07.018
- Grübner, O. (2017). Cities and Mental Health. Deutsches Aerzteblatt Online. https://doi.org/10.3238/arztebl.2017.0121
- Grübner, O. (2017). Spatial variations and determinants of infant and under-five mortality in Bangladesh. Health and Place, 47. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2017.08.012
- Grübner, O. (2016). Community Unemployment and Disaster-Related Stressors Shape Risk for Posttraumatic Stress in the Longer-Term Aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Journal of traumatic stress, 29 (5). https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.22126
- Grübner, O. (2016). Perceived Service Need after Hurricane Sandy in a Representative Sample of Survivors: The Roles of Community-Level Damage and Individual-Level Stressors. Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness, 10 (3). https://doi.org/10.1017/dmp.2016.66
- Grübner, O. (2016). The Geography of Mental Health and General Wellness in Galveston Bay after Hurricane Ike: A Spatial Epidemiologic Study with Longitudinal Data. Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness, 10 (2). https://doi.org/10.1017/dmp.2015.172
- Grübner, O. (2016). Mental health surveillance after the terrorist attacks in Paris. The Lancet, 387 (10034). https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(16)30602-X
- Grübner, O. (2016). Mental Health Service Need and Use in the Aftermath of Hurricane Sandy: Findings in a Population-Based Sample of New York City Residents. Community Mental Health Journal, 52 (1). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-015-9947-4
- Grübner, O. (2016). Mapping concentrations of posttraumatic stress and depression trajectories following Hurricane Ike. Scientific Reports, 6. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep32242
- Grübner, O., & Lautenbach, S. (2016). The spatial epidemiology of mental well-being in Dhaka’s Slums; The spatial epidemiology of mental well-being in Dhaka`s Slums. Spatial Analysis in Health Geography. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315610252
- Grübner, O. (2015). Psychological Resilience after Hurricane Sandy: The Influence of Individual- and Community-Level Factors on Mental Health after a Large-Scale Natural Disaster. PLoS ONE; PLoS, 10 (5). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0125761
- Grübner, O. (2015). Place of residence moderates the risk of infant death in Kenya: Evidence from the most recent census 2009. PLoS ONE, 10 (10). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0139545
- Grübner, O. (2015). The geography of post-disaster mental health: spatial patterning of psychological vulnerability and resilience factors in New York City after Hurricane Sandy. Int J Health Geogr; International Journal of Health Geographics, 14 (1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12942-015-0008-6
- Grübner, O. (2015). Estimating the spatial distribution of acute undifferentiated fever (AUF) and associated risk factors using emergency call data in India. A symptom-based approach for public health surveillance. Health & Place, 31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2014.11.002
- Grübner, O. (2014). The Geography of Diabetes among the General Adults Aged 35 Years and Older in Bangladesh: Recent Evidence from a Cross-Sectional Survey. PLoS ONE; PLoS, 9 (10). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0110756
- Grübner, O. (2014). Is area affected by flood or stagnant water independently associated with poorer health outcomes in urban slums of Dhaka and adjacent rural areas? Nat Hazards, 70 (1). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-013-0829-1
- Grübner, O. (2014). Spatio-temporal patterns of dengue in Malaysia: combining address and sub-district level. Geospat Health; Geospatial health, 9 (1), 131 ff. https://doi.org/10.4081/gh.2014.11
- Grübner, O. (2014). Mapping the Slums of Dhaka from 2006 to 2010. Dataset Papers in Science, 2014. https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/172182
- Grübner, O. (2012). Mental health in the slums of Dhaka - A geoepidemiological study. BMC Public Health, 12 (1). https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-12-177
- Grübner, O. (2012). Frequently used healthcare services in urban slums of Dhaka and adjacent rural areas and their determinants. Journal of Public Health. https://doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdr108
- Grübner, O. (2011). Urban health in megacities: extending the framework for developing countries. IHDP update (Magazine of the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change), (1).
- Grübner, O. (2011). A spatial epidemiological analysis of self-rated mental health in the slums of Dhaka. Int J Health Geogr; International Journal of Health Geographics, 10. https://doi.org/10.1186/1476-072X-10-36
- Grübner, O. (2010). Mapping megacity growth with multi-sensor data. Remote Sensing of Environment, 114 (2). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2009.09.012
- Grübner, O. (2009). Comparison of health-related outcomes between urban slums, urban affluent and rural areas in and around Dhaka Megacity, Bangladesh. Erde, 140 (1), 69-87 ff. Retrieved from http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-67651106177&partnerID=MN8TOARS
- Grübner, O. (2022). Mental Health and Treatment Considerations for Urban Populations. In Asmundson, G.J.G. (Ed.), Comprehensive Clinical Psychology (Vol. 9, pp. 291–303). Amsterdam: Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-818697-8.00178-3
- Grübner, O. (2019). Urban Design. In Galea, Sandro, Ettman, Catherine K. & Vlahov, David (Eds.), Urban Health (pp. 256–261). Oxford: Oxford University PressNew York. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190915858.003.0027
- Grübner, O. (2009). Geographic Information Systems. In Krämer, A., Kretzschmar, M., Krickeberg, K. (Ed.), Modern Infectious Disease Epidemiology (pp. 177–191). New York, NY: Springer New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-93835-6_10
Achievements
- Digital Public Health & Neuromuscular Diseases, Event chair, Universität Luzern, 2025
- Duchenne-Schweiz Konferenz 2025, Event chair, SPZ Nottwil, 2025
- Big Data in Public Health, Event chair, Zürich, 2022
- Big Data in Public Health, Event chair, Zürich, 2020
- Big Data in Public Health, Event chair, Zürich, 2021
- Big Data in Public Health, Event chair, Zürich, 2023
- Big Data in Public Health, Event chair, Zürich, 2024
- Methodological innovations in family (nursing) research. Nursing Science Symposium, Zürich, 2024
- Spatial and digital epidemiology for population health. Medical Geography workshop, Lausanne, 2023
- Digital mental health geography. DSI WS Advancing interdisciplinary perspectives on computational mental health research, Zürich, 2023
- Mental health surveillance. Biannual Meeting of the Swiss Society for Psychiatric Epidemiology, Zürich, 2023
- Digital spatial mental health surveillance based on social media data. The Symposium on Spatiotemporal Data Science, Cambridge, MA, 2023
- How can we use social media data for public health research and decision-making? Rockefeller 3D commission on public health, Boston, MA, 2020
- Scientific Reports, 2025
- International Journal of Public Health, 2024
- SAGE Digital Health, 2024
- AAAS Science Advances, 2024
- Cities, 2023
- Bundesgesundheitsblatt, 2020
- Frontiers in Public Health, 2019
- Health & Place, 2019
- Social Science and Medicine, 2019
- BMC, 2018
- PLOS One, 2018
- J Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 2018
- Social Science and Medicine, 2018
- BMJ, 2017
- Environmental Research, 2017
- Journal of Affective Disorders, 2017
- Social Science and Medicine, 2017
- African Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, 2016
- The Lancet, 2016
- Journal of Public Health, 2016
- Journal of Urban Health, 2015
- NATURE Scientific Reports, 2015
- Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 2014
- Kantonsschule Stadelhofen, Zürich, 2025
- Universität Zürich, Zürich, 2023
- SNSF, Bern, 2022
- Freies Gymnasium Zürich, Zürich, 2022
- SNSF, Bern, 2021
- Fondazione Cariplo, Milano, 2021
- Kantonsschule Stadelhofen, Zürich, 2021
- Vienna Science and Technology Fund (WWTF), Wien, 2017
- German Research Foundation (DFG), Bonn, 2014
- Duchenne-Schweiz, President, Switzerland, 2024–
- Swiss School of Public Health, Member, Switzerland, 2023–
- Swiss Society of Psychiatric Epidemiology SSPE, Member, Switzerland, 2019–
- Salzburg Global seminar, “Session 595 Building Healthy, Equitable Communities”, Member, Austria, 2018–
- Wennberg International Collaborative, Member, United States, 2018–
- Urban Design and Mental Health, Member, United States, 2017–
- Deutsche Gesellschaft für Epidemiologie, Member, Germany, 2015–
- International Geographical Union (IGU), Commission of Health and the Environment, Member, United States, 2013–
