Peter Bogner | |
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 Bogner in 2013
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| Born | 1964 (age 58–59) |
| Known for | Founder and President of GISAID |
Peter Bogner (born 1964 in West Germany) is a German-American former media executive who is the founder and current president of GISAID, a platform for rapid sharing of genomic sequences of emerging viruses, such as influenza and SARS-CoV-2.
Media executive
Bogner emigrated from West Germany to the United States in the early 1980s working in the TV industry as a senior studio executive at Time Warner where he co-founded the German television channel VIVA. He has also started his own strategic consultancy firm. He has been a frequent participant at the World Economic Forum.
Founding and leading GISAID
Despite having no prior ties to the influenza research community, Bogner was the key person driving the creation of GISAID, a database created to encourage sharing of avian influenza genome data from countries reluctant to share sequence in open databases. In 2006, he co-wrote a statement and collected signatures from key figures including prominent figures from the World Health Organization (WHO) and Nobel laureates to support the initiative. He initially financed the endeavor using his own funds.
In 2021, Bogner was accused by many scientists to be responsible for a "secretive, controlling organizational culture" at GISAID, according to a Science article. A 2023 Science Magazine investigation revealed concerning findings about how Bogner runs the organization. The investigation raised concerns about trustworthiness of Bogner (apparent alter ego), lack of transparency and accountability: intellectual property issues, data privacy, and funding and governance openness.
Life
Peter Bogner's interests include sailing and skiing. He has published a skiing instruction video titled "Peter Bogner's Skiing Techniques", for which he received an award at the 14th annual Ray-Ban International Ski Film Festival in Vail, Colorado. In the early 2000s, he organized sailboat races.
External links
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Media related to Peter Bogner at Wikimedia Commons
