Dear all,

It is with great sadness that I inform you of the passing of our dear colleague Dr. Joseph “Seppi” Jost. He died suddenly and unexpectedly during the ECCMID meeting in Amsterdam last week. Seppi was a highly talented and dedicated ID physician, a pioneer of HIV medicine in Switzerland and instrumental in setting up the Swiss HIV Cohort Study.

He worked at the Division of Infectious Diseases and Hospital Epidemiology of the University of Zurich as an “Oberarzt” from 1986-1999. In 1999, he went into private practice in Zurich and continued to care for hundreds of patients living with HIV.

Seppi was a member of the KOHEX physicians (physicians participating in the Swiss HIV Cohort Study in Zurich) and remained always a highly motivated partner of the SHCS.

On behalf of the SHCS, I want to thank Seppi for all the great work he has done for his patients and for his commitment to the SHCS. On a personal note, I want to thank him for all I was able to learn from him during my ID fellowship at the USZ in 1991-1993. Seppi was not only a great physician but had also a great sense of humor and it was always true fun to work with him.

Seppi will be truly missed. Our deepest sympathies go to his wife and two children.

for the SHCS,
Huldrych Günthard
President of the SHCS