Philippe Büscher was born in Antwerp, Belgium in 1956. He graduated as a biologist at the Free University of Brussels where he also obtained his PhD in 1986. His career at the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp started in the same year under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Nestor Van Meirvenne. Since then, P. Büscher has been involved in human and animal African trypanosomiasis, mainly focusing on improved diagnosis. In 1998, he became head of the Unit of Parasite Diagnostics.
With his team, including Congolese and Ethiopian PhD students, he develops new formats for parasitological, serological and molecular diagnostics for African trypanosomiasis, visceral leishmaniasis and Chagas disease. Particular attention is paid to the applicability of these tests in settings with poor infrastructure resources. He participated in the development of the first generation of rapid serodiagnostic tests for sleeping sickness, now produced by Coris BioConcept and by Standard Diagnostics. With Coris BioConcept, he also developed the first rapid serodiagnostic test for surra (Trypanosoma evansi). P. Büscher co-authored more than 170 articles in peer reviewed journals and more than 10 book chapters. He participated in six European projects.