Outbreak Research Team
Understanding epidemic-prone diseases
We have a long-standing history of involvement in outbreak investigations, research, and response. Our work spans historic and ongoing efforts to combat Ebola and Marburg outbreaks, as well as more recent challenges such as COVID-19, mpox, and antimicrobial resistance (AMR). We take the lead in Belgium and globally during such epidemics.
An interdisciplinary approach, incorporating transversal skills like anthropology and research ethics, has proven essential in tackling global outbreaks and enhancing outbreak preparedness. Our Outbreak Research Team (ORT) aims to deepen the understanding of the factors driving the transmission and spread of epidemic-prone diseases. The team also develops and evaluates methods and models for early detection, while assessing strategies for outbreak prevention and control. It was successfully mobilised during the 2014–2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, and the 2022 mpox outbreak.
Operating primarily in low-resource settings, the ORT is committed to its mission: “to strengthen the evidence base for improved outbreak preparedness, response, recovery, and resilience through interdisciplinary applied research.” This work is made possible through funding from the Flemish Department of Economy, Science, and Innovation (EWI), which allocated €3 million for the 2020–2024 period.
Contact
ITM's Outbreak Research Team is always on standby to do research interventions during outbreaks in the world.
Outbreak Research Team (ORT)
Future of outbreak research
In the coming years, ITM will remain focused on outbreak preparedness. The threat of outbreaks is growing due to factors such as climate change, urbanisation, and environmental degradation. These factors pose significant risks to global health security, particularly in resource-constrained settings, underscoring the urgent need for robust preparation to confront future outbreaks. This preparation involves the ability to swiftly execute four essential actions during an outbreak:
(1)
To establish equitable partnerships with local (health and non-health) stakeholders and communities from the start
(2)
To collect real-time clinical and biomedical insights using newly developed tools
(3)
To stimulate and accelerate the development and deployment of knowledge and countermeasures for patient care
(4)
To advise partners and health authorities on effective outbreak containment to mitigate health and broader societal impacts
ORT members and governance
The Outbreak Research Team consists of seven members, each bringing extensive expertise and experience. They are supported by ITM's director, Dr Özge Tunçalp, who provides scientific guidance and coordinates ORT research activities.
Eugene Bangwen
Clinical Reference Laboratory
Eugene Bangwen (MSc) has a professional background in infectious disease diagnostics and laboratory capacity building in resource-limited settings. He has worked with several NGOs in Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, primarily within HIV and AIDS programmes. Before joining ITM, he served as Laboratory Manager for Médecins Sans Frontières Belgium, where he supported the implementation of advanced HIV diagnostic packages and led laboratory capacity building efforts in the DRC.
Isabel Brosius
Tropical Medicine
Isabel Brosius (MD, MMed) is an internal medicine and infectious diseases specialist within ITM's Unit of Tropical Medicine. As a clinician, she has extensive experience in HIV, tropical diseases, and travel medicine. Her research background includes the development of novel treatments and diagnostics for schistosomiasis, operational bacteriology during Ebola outbreaks, and diagnostics and clinical decision-making for COVID-19. She joined ITM's Outbreak Research Team to focus on emerging infectious diseases, with a particular interest in zoonoses.
Soledad Colombe
Emerging Infectious Diseases
Soledad Colombe (DVM, MPH, PhD) is an infectious disease epidemiologist with a veterinary background. She has worked as an epidemiologist researcher in the field of international health, with a strong focus on One Health. Before joining ITM, she completed the European Programme on Intervention Epidemiology Training (EPIET) at the Public Health Agency of Sweden.
Elise De Vos
Clinical Emerging Infectious Diseases
Elise De Vos (MSc) is an infectious disease epidemiologist with a strong interest in theoretical epidemiology. Before joining the Outbreak Research Team, her research focused on multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, using modern epidemiological methods to refine the study of novel (genetic) diagnostics. At the Outbreak Research Team, her work centers on understanding transmission dynamics to better address and mitigate emerging infectious diseases, with a particular emphasis on capacity building.
Marie Meudec
Equity and Health
Marie Meudec (MAs, PhD) is an anthropologist who studied in France and Canada. Before joining ITM, she worked as an expert for law firms in the UK and Canada and conducted research on various topics, including spiritual and healing practices, everyday ethics, stigma and resistance, health inequalities, and racial profiling. She has carried out ethnographic fieldwork in Haiti, Saint Lucia, and Canada. Marie has also taught at Université Laval, the University of Toronto, and the State University of Haiti.
Philippe Selhorst
Virology
Philippe Selhorst (MSc, PhD) is a medical virologist with expertise in infectious diseases and molecular epidemiology. He has extensive experience in viral culture, next-generation sequencing technologies, and antiviral drug discovery. He successfully led research projects in South Africa, focusing on HIV transmission, drug resistance, and microbicides.
Wim Van Bortel
Entomology
Wim Van Bortel (MSc, PhD) is a medical entomologist with over 25 years of experience in researching vectors and vector-borne diseases. His work focuses on unraveling the role of arthropod vectors in transmission systems to enhance the prevention and control of vector-borne diseases. His research is primarily conducted in Africa, Southeast Asia, and Belgium.
ITM staff
In addition to our core ORT members, other ITM staff may act as a resource pool to support research activities during outbreaks.
Özge Tunçalp
Executive Director
Dr Özge Tunçalp is a distinguished physician and epidemiologist and currently serving as the Executive Director of ITM. Prior to her role at ITM, she was a medical officer in the Department of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research at the World Health Organization (WHO). She spearheaded large-scale implementation and innovation research, and developed evidence-based guidelines and knowledge translation tools for country impact, focusing on antenatal care and quality of care. In collaboration with country, regional, and global partners, she employed quantitative and qualitative methodologies, along with innovative approaches, to improve the quality of maternal and perinatal healthcare, including safe abortion services in low- and middle-income countries.
Want to learn more about the work of our Outbreak Research Team?
In the first season of our podcast Transmission, our researchers and partners share their experiences, from early encounters with Ebola in remote villages to their recent efforts combatting COVID-19 and mpox in bustling urban settings.
News
All news-
Exotic mosquitoes, such as the Asian tiger mosquito, are on the rise in Belgium. How can we halt their spread? An interview with Entomologist Dr Wim Van Bortel. -
Press releases
Mpox incidence nearly quadruples in 14 years
Discontinuation of smallpox vaccine made populations susceptible to mpox. -
Press releases
Largest study of its kind reveals new insights into Clade Ib of mpox and challenges early fears
How mpox threatens pregnant women and children -
Press releases
Additional resources for the Institute of Tropical Medicine in the fight against Mpox
The funds can be used to launch a vaccination campaign in the hardest-hit areas. -
Articles
Mpox Outbreak: What you need to know
A new variant of the mpox virus, Clade Ib, has recently emerged in several African countries, with the first case outside Africa reported in Sweden on 15 August 2024. -
Press releases
Does a second shot help? First large-scale comparison of different booster vaccinations against Ebola
Improved immunity and local testing may hasten outbreak containment. -
International health community raises alarm
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Press releases
ITM Joins e FabRIC Consortium for Broad-Spectrum Therapeutics against Emerging Viruses
European Commission Selects Institute of Tropical Medicine for Innovative Pandemic Defense -
A portrait of Laurens Liesenborghs, Professor of Clinical Emerging Infectious Diseases at ITM
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Learn how entomologist Ruth Müller and her team work to prevent and control this global threat
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Press releases
Are we ready for a West Nile virus outbreak?
ITM warns of widespread insecticide resistance in the common house mosquito -
Dr Daniel Mukadi-Bamuleka recently graduated with a PhD from ITM, and he impressed everyone by appearing on the cover page of the last edition of The Lancet eBioMedicine Discovery Science. This achievement prompted an interview with Dr Mukadi-Bamuleka, a rising star in the field of virology, who now serves as the Director of the newly inaugurated Rodolphe Mérieux Laboratory in Goma, a branch of the National Institute of Biomedical Research (INRB), in the North Kivu Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
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Impact stories
One year of mpox: from the African forest to the city
During last year's mpox outbreak, our dedicated nurses, doctors, laboratory staff and researchers collaborated closely with colleagues, the affected community and policymakers both at home in Belgium and abroad. Their interdisciplinary approach helped them to effectively understand and manage the outbreak. As we look back a year later, it becomes evident that exotic viruses are no longer a distant narrative but a tangible reality. -
Articles
Ebola outbreak in DR Congo
Travellers to the region must adhere strictly to the travel advice given. -
On Saturday (26 May), ITM will send two researchers to Congo to assist its partners in the Ebola outbreak.
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With funding of the Flemish Ministry of Science, ITM will do research during outbreaks.
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Articles
Yellow fever outbreak mission
Epidemiologist Veerle Vanlerberghe travelled to Angola in May on a mission to investigate a yellow fever outbreak
