Professor Bouke de Jong leads the Mycobacteriology Unit at the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp. A clinical infectious disease specialist, she has worked extensively on tuberculosis in high burden settings, with a focus on molecular epidemiology, diagnostics, and drug resistance. Her work on leprosy centers on molecular epidemiology and post-exposure prophylaxis. Her Unit serves as a WHO Supranational TB Reference Lab and houses the world’s largest M. tuberculosis strain collection. She also co-leads ITM’s Master’s in Tropical Medicine and a global course on drug-resistant TB.
Research lines
- Improved molecular (resistance) diagnostics for leprosy, Buruli ulcer, and tuberculosis
- Phylogeography, phylodynamics, and molecular epidemiology of M. ulcerans, M. tuberculosis, and M. leprae in the context of intervention studies
- Optimized treatment for M. tuberculosis