Claudio Lino Alberto Bassetti was born and raised in Ticino, is married and father of three boys. He speaks six languages and enjoys music, history and sports.
Bassetti received his MD degree from the University of Basel in 1984. He trained in neurology in Bern and Lausanne and performed research fellowships in experimental neurophysiology (Basel) and sleep (Ann Arbor, USA). In 2000 he was appointed professor of Neurology at the University of Zurich. In 2009 he founded the Neurocenter of Southern Switzerland. Since 2012 he is full professor at the University of Bern and director of the Neurology Department at Inselspital.
Bassetti has been working thoughout his career mainly as a general neurologist with a special interest in clinical skills teaching. Using human and animal approaches he pioneered the studies between sleep, sleep disorders and stroke. He also made fundamental contributions to the etiology, pathophysiology and management of human narcolepsy. He authored over 560 publications (H index 105) and 10 books. He served as president of the European Neurological Society, European Sleep Research Society and Swiss Neurological Society (SNS) and European Academy of
Neurology (EAN). He has been the founder president of the Swiss Federation of Clinical Neurosocieties (SFCNS). For 8 years he served as board member of the Swiss
Academy of Medical Sciences (SAMS). He currently serves as vice-president of the European Brain Council (EBC) and Dean of the Medical Faculty in Bern. He is honorary member of the SNS and EAN.
