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Idzi Potters holds a professional degree in (bio)chemistry (1997) and in biomedical laboratory technology (2017). He holds a certificate of specialization in helminthology and protozoology (2001) and can draw on more than 25 years of experience in an L2 reference laboratory, working as a laboratory technician in the Department of Clinical Sciences, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium. He is actively involved in the diagnosis of intestinal parasites, tissue parasites and blood parasites, but he also trains other professionals in postgraduate and master courses and gives parasitology courses to medical students at the University of Antwerp, Belgium. 

Idzi has experience with capacity exchange abroad, setting up a laboratory for schistosomiasis diagnosis in Richard-Toll, Senegal, including training and quality assurance aspects, and giving in-depth training on several malaria diagnosis aspects in Kisantu, DRC (including advanced microscopy, staining principles, quality assurance, use of microscope-cameras, microscope maintenance, …) with a focus on knowledge transfer to peers (“training the trainers”).

Idzi is a member of the cross-cutting subgroup on clinical diagnosis, imaging and microscopy of the World Health Organization (WHO) Diagnostic and Technical Advisory Group (DTAG) for Neglected Tropical Diseases and is also a member of the ESCMID clinical parasitology study group. He has also organized, chaired and spoken at various parasitology workshops and conferences. He co-authored the second edition of the “WHO Bench Aids for the Diagnosis of Intestinal Parasites” (2019), providing most of the microphotographs and assisting with the text and layout of the document. He is first author of the chapter "Reagents, Stains and Media: Parasitology" in the "Manual of Clinical Microbiology - 13th Edition" (ASM Press), and published several case reports of uncommon parasites as first author in high-impact journals, like Emerging Infectious Diseases, Clinical Microbiology and Infection, Open Forum Infectious Diseases, and Journal of Clinical Microbiology.