ITM scientists win FWO grants

This year, all three FWO postdoctoral applications submitted by ITM supported candidates were successful. The FWO funds excellent and promising researchers as well as research projects following an inter-university competition. The evaluation is carried out by national and international experts.

• Thijs Reyniers (Public Health) will study the dynamics between sexual risk behaviour, social context and the use of pre-exposure prophylaxis among men who have sex with men.
• Tom Decroo (Clinicial Sciences) was successful with his proposal ‘novel high-dose tuberculosis retreatment regimen: how to overcome resistance without creating it’.
• Bart Cuypers (UAntwerp/ITM Biomedical Sciences) will do the first integrated study of dosage compensation in Leishmania.

Also good FWO news for Sofie Braet who’s PhD fellowship proposal ‘Using novel molecular approaches to understand the transmission dynamics of Mycobacterium leprae in the Comoros’ was approved with Leen Rigouts as UAntwerpen supervisor and Bouke de Jong as ITM co-supervisor. 

Chris Kenyon was awarded a FWO ‘Applied Biomedical Research with a Primary Societal finality’ (TBM) grant for his study proposal ‘Preventing Resistance in Gonorrhoea (PReGo)’. 

Leen Rigouts will contribute as ITM co-supervisor to the TBM project ‘Whole Genome Sequencing to streamline TB diagnosis, improve TB surveillance and optimize individualized TB treatment: a pragmatic trial’ with Annelies Van Rie (UAntwerp) as main supervisor.