Sciensano is pleased to announce that An Van den Bossche, a researcher at the service Bacterial diseases of the Scientific Directorate Infectious diseases in humans at Sciensano, received the Best Oral Presentation Award at the annual conference of the European Society of Mycobacteriology in Dresden, Germany.
Best Oral Presentation Award
“It was already a great opportunity to present our research project to this audience of scientists specialised in the field of Mycobacteria and Tuberculosis, and I was happy to receive a lot of feedback. To get the recognition for our work by winning the Best Oral Presentation Award on top, sincerely is an honour. It is providing additional opportunities to connect and collaborate with highly respected research teams. The obtained free registration for the conference next year, is of course a nice surplus as well.” says An Van den Bossche, a Sciensano researcher at the service Bacterial diseases.
This award celebrates the most inspiring presentations, that are delivered by impactful and engaging speakers. The award, which is selected by the scientific commission of the conference, sets to challenge speakers even further and encourage them to share their research results with the society.
Drug resistance in Tuberculosis
The presentation “RNA-based Drug Susceptibility Testing in Tuberculosis” won in a field of 32 selected oral presentations. The research addresses the problem of drug resistance in Tuberculosis, which is still the most deadly infectious disease worldwide. An and her colleagues are developing a new diagnostic test for the detection of drug susceptibility in Mycobacterium tuberculosis in the TIDRACE project. By measuring the intracellular response of the bacteria in the presence and/or absence of a drug, this test uses a completely new approach to speed up the current culture-dependent standard methods of 2-8 weeks to 2-3 days.
About the European Society of Mycobacteriology (ESM)
The European Society of Mycobacteriology (ESM) is an international non-profit society dealing with scientific aspects of mycobacteriology and the related disease and is considered one of the most active international scientific society in this field. The ESM is, among others, committed to disseminating knowledge on all aspects of mycobacteriology and related diseases via scientific meetings and publications, providing high standard training to health care providers, promoting high quality and cost-effective diagnostic procedures and advising governments and non-government agencies. The annual conference was due for its 39th edition and provides a valuable arena for researchers and scholars to exchange their ideas and research results within the field. It covers various topics: from basic science and up-to-date diagnostic methods to clinical aspects, treatment and transmission of mycobacterial infections.ESM included the participation of 15 renowned keynote speakers and 32 selected speakers. The ESM 2018 was held July the 1st-4th in Dresden and attended by international participants.