Infection Biology and Control

Infection Biology aims to characterise the interaction between pathogens and their host in order to elucidate the mechanisms through which parasites, bacteria, viruses, and fungi invade their host and cause diseases. Infectious diseases contribute in great proportion to illnesses and death worldwide. Understanding how pathogens get access to their host, colonise and cause disease is an important step towards developing strategies for control. Sub-Saharan Africa has one of the highest burdens of infectious diseases world-wide. The Master’s programme in Infection Biology and Control is fully focused on the predominant causes of the infectious diseases burden in sub-Saharan African countries, e.g. major parasitic pathogens and emerging and re-emerging viruses with an added emphasis on translational aspects of infectious disease control in the Central African context. To successfully control infectious diseases, the underlying molecular, immunological, and epidemiological mechanisms first need to be better understood. The aim of this programme is to equip young students with the knowledge and skills necessary to tackle biological and medical challenges. These include the timely identification of emerging drug resistance for many neglected parasites using novel tools in genomics, molecular biology such as the use of environmental DNA techniques for vector research and last but not least, urgent one-health-related research questions.