Jakob Zinsstag graduated with a doctorate in veterinary medicine (Dr. med. vet.) on salmonella diagnosis from the Veterinary Faculty of the University of Berne in 1986 and holds a PhD in tropical animal production. After his studies, he worked in rural practice and as post-doctoral fellow on trypanosomiasis research at the Swiss Tropical Institute. From 1990 to 1993, he led a livestock helminthosis project for the University of Berne at the International Trypanotolerance Centre in The Gambia.
From 1994 to 1998, he headed the Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. Since 1998, he has been in charge of a research group at the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH) in Basel investigating the interface of human and animal health with the focus on the health of nomadic peoples and the control of zoonoses in developing countries under the paradigm of "one health". He has been Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Basel since 2010 and Deputy Head of the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at the Swiss TPH since 2011.
He is a Diplomate of the European College of Veterinary Public Health (ECVPH) and a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Prince Leopold Institute of Tropical Medicine of Antwerp, Belgium. He is a member of the Transdisciplinarity Board of the Swiss Academies of Sciences and President of the International Association of Ecology and Health. His research is partnered with several international networks, such as the EU FP7-funded network on Integrated Control of Zoonoses in Africa and the Wellcome Trust-funded Africa Capacity Building network.