24 June 2026 Articles

Four ITM researchers awarded postdoctoral fellowships by the Research Foundation of Flanders

The four researchers will carry out vital work on viral spillover, leprosy transmission, mpox, and onchocerciasis-associated epilepsy

This prestigious FWO postdoctoral fellowship aims to help researchers develop an independent and international research career offering funding for a period of three years. FWO awarded 275 new postdoctoral fellowships out of the 1873 submitted projects, an overall success rate of 14.6%. ITM can be proud of its 28.6 % (4 awardees out of 14 submissions) success rate. Meet Mare, Sofie, Elise and Luis-Jorge. They will begin their research the coming fall.

Mare Geraerts

From Forest to Market: Viral Community Restructuring and Spillover Potential in the Wild-Meat Supply Chain

Mare Geraerts, Unit of Virus Ecology – Senior Postdoc Fellowship

In the Congo Basin, frequent hunting, handling, and consumption of wild mammals create interfaces where spillover of zoonotic viruses can occur. Yet, the true diversity of viruses circulating in these mammals remains poorly characterised, as most surveillance targets only known viruses in a limited number of hosts. This restricts our understanding of how viral diversity is structured and how spillover risk develops along the supply chain. This project will address these gaps using advanced genetic techniques across a broad range of mammalian host species. Combining a biobank and field sampling in Tshopo Province (DRC), it will characterise host and viral diversity across supply-chain stages. The project will investigate how the mix of animal species present, their biological traits, and the way carcasses are handled influence which viruses are detected, and which are most likely to jump to new hosts. The findings will sharpen our ability to identify high-risk moments in the supply chain and guide practical measures to prevent the next animal-to-human disease outbreak.

Sofie Braet

SENSITIVE: Using Genome Sequencing to Track Leprosy Transmission

Sofie Braet, Unit of Mycobacteriology – Junior Postdoc Fellowship

Current leprosy surveillance relies on case reporting, which cannot tell us whether transmission is ongoing or whether new diagnoses simply reflect infections acquired years ago. Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) could fill this gap, but its use for Mycobacterium leprae remains limited because only high–bacterial load samples can currently be sequenced. As a result, we still lack clear evidence on where transmission continues and whether drug resistance is transmitted or newly emerging. This project will improve WGS techniques to work on a much wider range of samples, including those with low bacterial levels. Using the unique, near-complete leprosy dataset from the Comoros, Sofie will establish the first genomic threshold that allows identification of which infections are likely linked through recent transmission. This approach will be applied to samples from Burundi, the DRC, Cameroon, Ghana, Pakistan and Suriname, and compared against existing surveillance data. Finally, Sofie will also assess whether drug resistance in M. leprae is transmitted, newly emerging, or absent. This project will, in an innovative way, develop a genetic threshold to identify which infections are likely linked through recent transmission, supporting the evaluation of true transmission interruption.

Elise De Vos

Mpox Clade I Outbreak Risk in Belgium: Transmission, Immunity, and Network Modeling

Elise de Vos, Unit of Clinical Emerging Infectious Diseases – Junior Postdoc Fellowship

Mpox has re-emerged globally through multiple Clade I lineages, raising concern about their epidemic potential in Europe. Belgium experienced a large Clade IIb outbreak in 2022, after which immunity accumulated in its high-risk population (men who have sex with men). However, immunity induced after the 2022 outbreak may be waning, and sexual networks may have reshaped. Additionally, transmission parameters of the Clade I variants are mostly still unknown, and vaccine effectiveness of existing vaccines against Clade I is still undetermined. These uncertainties complicate the estimation of potential outbreaks. This project integrates data from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Belgium to assess vulnerability to emerging mpox variants. Elise and colleagues will estimate Clade I transmission parameters, quantify real-world vaccine protection, measure current immunity in the Belgian high-risk population, and help characterize sexual network structures — feeding a Belgium-specific network model to simulate outbreak risk and evaluate control strategies. The project will deliver the first integrated assessment of Clade I transmissibility, vaccine performance, immunity durability, and network connectivity for Belgium, directly informing vaccination policy and outbreak preparedness.

Luís-Jorge Amaral

Making Onchocerciasis-Associated Epilepsy Visible: Quantifying the Global Burden and Impact of Integrated Care

Luís-Jorge Amaral, Unit of Eco-epidemiology & the Global Health Institute at the University of Antwerp – Junior Postdoc Fellowship

Onchocerciasis-associated epilepsy (OAE) is a severe but preventable and treatable form of epilepsy linked to the parasite that causes onchocerciasis, also known as river blindness. Yet, OAE remains absent from Global Burden of Disease (GBD) metrics, limiting prioritisation and funding for the millions affected or at risk. Luís will deliver the first GBD-compatible estimates of the OAE burden and assess how sustained onchocerciasis control combined with community-based epilepsy care can prevent new cases, reduce disability and premature deaths, and at what cost. Burden will be measured in disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), a standard metric capturing illness and premature death. Field studies in Tanzania and South Sudan are tracking epilepsy incidence, seizures, disability and survival, comparing communities with and without integrated interventions. The findings will provide policymakers with evidence to target prevention, match epilepsy medicine supplies to real need, and scale up affordable decentralised care, hence moving OAE from a neglected condition to one that is well managed and increasingly rare.

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Four ITM researchers awarded postdoctoral fellowships by the Research Foundation of Flanders

From Forest to Market: Viral Community Restructuring and Spillover Potential in the Wild-Meat Supply Chain

SENSITIVE: Using Genome Sequencing to Track Leprosy Transmission

Mpox Clade I Outbreak Risk in Belgium: Transmission, Immunity, and Network Modeling

Making Onchocerciasis-Associated Epilepsy Visible: Quantifying the Global Burden and Impact of Integrated Care

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