Scientific Fellow

Department of Clinical Sciences – Unit of Neglected Tropical Diseases

More than 500 staff members at the Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM) contribute every day to improving the health of millions of people worldwide. Our researchers conduct more than 100 scientific projects in the fields of tropical medicine and international health. Our teaching staff welcomes more than 500 professionals from around the world each academic year to attend our highly regarded medical courses. Tens of thousands of travel- and STI consultations take place in our clinic each year, and our internationally recognized reference laboratories examine many hundreds of thousands of samples. 

There is only one way we can accomplish these very diverse tasks: thanks to a great passion for our mission.

ITM’s Department of Clinical Sciences strives for optimal diagnosis, treatment and prevention of tropical and globalized infectious diseases. The department has long-standing well-recognised expertise in the conduct of  clinical trials of treatments, vaccines, and diagnostics, in lower-resourced settings  as well as in Belgium and works closely with by the ITM Clinical Trials Unit

The Unit of Neglected Tropical Diseases is a research unit in the Department of Clinical Sciences. The main current projects relate to visceral and cutaneous leishmaniasis, with clinical trials and observational clinical research in Ethiopia. These studies generally also entail nested laboratory studies. For visceral leishmaniasis, we aim to contribute to the WHO VL elimination plan for East-Africa. For cutaneous leishmaniasis, our main aim is to improve diagnosis and treatment, including projects that involve decentralizing care. Another key activity of the unit is scientific capacity strengthening, in collaboration with multiple Ethiopian partners.

This position relates specifically to the MAMS4CL project (2025-2028), which will be launched around June 2025. This is an EDCTP-funded project, involving- besides ITM - partners from Ethiopia, South-Africa, UK and Sweden. The main aim of the project is to conduct a multi-arm clinical trial (combined phase II and phase III) to assess the efficacy and safety of five antileishmanial drugs to treat severe cutaneous leishmaniasis in three sites in Ethiopia. We are looking for a new team member to join the unit, with the MAMS4CL trial as main scope of work, but at the same time also involved in other academic activities and projects of the unit, and with the possibility to develop your own research ideas.

Your role:

• You will coordinate and implement the MAMS4CL clinical trial in Ethiopia, in close collaboration with consortium partners, ITM's Clinical Trials Unit, and other ITM colleagues.

  Activities include:

  • study preparation (development of a protocol and SOPs, ethics approval, staff training);
  • follow-up on scientific and operational matters during the trial;
  • contributing to various tasks within the MAMS4CL consortium (eg attending consortium meetings, reporting, drafting scientific reports and publications).
• You will regularly (approximately 2-4 times per year) visit the study sites abroad for visits lasting for one to two weeks, but potentially up to four weeks.
• You will contribute to the other core activities of the unit: research projects on visceral and cutaneous leishmaniasis, capacity strengthening in Ethiopia, education and training at ITM and abroad, and will report to the unit head.
• You will mentor and support overseas students (visiting or remote) in the unit.
• You will develop new ideas and projects (in collaboration with the Ethiopian partners). You will write and contribute to scientific reports, protocols and research papers.
• You will develop and/or contribute to grant applications for new research projects.
• You will assist the unit head with the organisational aspects of the unit.