Improving antimicrobial therapy for Buruli ulcer
Omansen, Till Frederik
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Publication date: 2019
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Omansen, T. F. (2019). Improving antimicrobial therapy for Buruli ulcer: Pre-clinical studies towards highly efficient, short-course therapy. University of Groningen.
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aCKnOWledgeMenTs
First and foremost, I would like to thank my mentor and PhD-supervisor Prof. Tjip van der Werf. In 2011 I followed one of your lectures on Buruli ulcer in the IBMG study program – I was immediately captivated by the fascinating and horrifying story of this neglected patho-gen and equally amazed by your cross-disciplinary knowledge addressing social aspects, mo-lecular mechanisms and clinical management. Only a few days later I joined your research team inspired to follow a research career in interdisciplinary tropical medicine from the patient bed to the bench and back. Tjip, I am very thankful for your guidance and support. You have opened doors for me and enabled to follow a very rewarding, international and interdisciplinary PhD program.
Next, I would like to thank Prof. Ymkje Stienstra who has also been my PhD supervisor. Ymkje, I always appreciated your help from organizing my first research stay in Benin and writing ethics and grant proposals in Groningen, to your personal help in difficult times. When some of my projects were stagnating you invited me to join you in addressing infectious diseases epidemiology in the refugee population 2015. This has been a great way to broaden my view and definitely enhanced my PhD program.
With of my laboratory work was conducted abroad, a third PhD supervisor came into play. I am very grateful for Prof. Eric Nuermberger who welcomed me in his laboratory in Baltimore, USA to work on Buruli ulcer pharmacotherapy. Eric, thank you so much for the possibility to work with you and your group and for letting me explore my own ideas and projects. I learned a lot in your laboratory but also from your much appreciated professionalism and leadership. Furthermore, I would like to thank Jaques Grosset, who was a supervisor and mentor during my first visit to Baltimore. Jaques I am very grateful for all the discussions and teaching regarding Buruli ulcer but also tuberculosis. Your personality and career are a true inspiration for me.
I would like to also thank all the members of the Nuermberger laboratory who have ac-companied me during the intense laboratory rotations. Dr. Paul Converse, Dr. Deepak Dr. Al-meida, Sandeep Tyagi, Dr. Nicole Ammerman, Dr. Rokeya Tasneen, Si-Yang Li and Jin Lee, and others have been great mentors, colleagues and friends who were so supportive. You made it possible for me to conduct work on one of the slowest growing pathogens in between my busy medical school schedule, I highly appreciated the team work and atmosphere in the lab. Thank you!
The starting point for my PhD was a 1-year M.Sc.-thesis laboratory internship with Prof Tim Stinear in Melbourne, Australia. Tim, thanks a lot for this time which was certainly one of the best years of my life. I feel that I quickly developed during that year from an observing junior student to conducting small experiments and projects myself and starting to write my first manuscripts. Thanks for being a role-model in science, collaboration and leadership. Also, thank you for making it possible to visit the lab again during the PhD together with my friend Matthias - this was certainly one of the highlights of our program and such a fun time. I would also like to thank all of the Stinear lab members, Dr. Renee Marcisin, Jessica Porter, Dr. Sacha Pidot, Kirstie Mangas, Dr. Andrew Buultjes and others and also Dr. Brendon Chua and Prof. Paul Johnson for their very valuable help, discussions and support.
Some of the time in my curriculum was spent at the Department of Neglected Tropical Diseases at the World Health Organization headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland under the supervision of Dr. Kingsley Asiedu and Dr. Lise Grout. Kingsley and Lise, thank you for enabling me to gain insights into epidemiology and public health work. This really comple-mented and completed my program and was a great addition to the clinical and laboratory experience.
I would also like to take the opportunity to acknowledge Prof. John Wallace, a dear mentor and colleague with whom I worked on a project in Australia and whom I also met again dur-ing my time in the USA. John thanks for introducdur-ing me to the fascinatdur-ing world of medical entomology and for welcoming me at your house when visiting Millersville.
Some of my first steps in research were taken at the Center for Buruli ulcer diagnosis and treatment in Lalo, Benin. Dr. Yves Barogui was my supervisor there and Yves thank you for welcoming me in Benin and I am very glad we stayed in touch throughout both of our PhD programs.
I am grateful to Dr. Janine de Zeeuw, Prof. Jan Maarten van Dijl and Dr. Corinna Glasner for supervising my early research training in Groningen and Benin in health psychology research and molecular bacteriology.
Thank you to Sofanne Ravensbergen and Dorien Beeres, it was great to work with you together as students and peers conducting research in Ter Apel.
I would also like to thank my friend and colleague Matthias Gröschel. Matthias, I vividly remember our first meeting in 2008 in Neuwied in the break room of EIRENE e.V. We dis-cussed medical school applications and you made a google document with addresses and references. Since then I have been amazed by your organizational skills and ability to think ahead. I am very grateful to have you as a peer critically reviewing science and life choices. Our PhD programs in mycobacteriology could not have been more similar yet more diver-gent at the same time. We can both learn much more from each. Thanks for your friendship and support.
Next, I would like to acknowledge the invaluable help and support of my paranymphs Chris-tian Rausch and Michael Urbanowski. ChrisChris-tian your social skills and performance always amazed me. I think we connected at various points throughout both our MD/PhD careers but I would like to highlight how much I valued our trip to Sweden with Thomas and our discussions about family and life in 2018. I am sure you will be an excellent physician and public health authority in the future and look forward to the time ahead. Michael, you welcomed me in difficult times in your home in Baltimore. Discussions and activities with you and the house community made the last, very intense year of my PhD an absolutely amazing experience that I was sad to leave at the end. Thanks for being a team mate and friend in the lab, on the climbing wall and in the pub. I am sure that you will make a great contribution to fighting sickness at the laboratory bench or the patient bed. I am grateful to both of you for celebrating the day of my PhD defense with me.
Furthermore, I would like to thank Peter Leiding for his support and companionship. Peter, thanks for always being there when I needed you and you can count on me being there if you need me. I would also like to thank Treeske and Gert Fricke, and my cousins Anna, Eva and Jens Fricke for being there.
I would also like to thank all my other teachers, mentors, colleagues and peers in medical school and science that I have met along the way I would like to especially acknowledge the role of Prof. Jan Kuks as a clinical teacher, supervisor in my senior medical internships and role model and also Prof. Ingrid Molema for her mentorship while in graduate school and for her critical discussions.
Finally, I would like to acknowledge all of my friends. I am amazed and grateful to have such a large, international and gifted group of friends. In no specific order, I would like to thank my friends and companions Frederik Bunzel, Maximilian Rehwinkel, Carl Alnor, Denis
Gaia Beyduz, Charlotte Runge, Rune Rossius, Liza Malong, Thomas Vaessen, Jean-Phillipe Majewski, Christopher Stalmans, Birte Klusman, Martin Lochmüller, Corinna Sandkühler, Riccarda Peters, Valeska Valderas, Eva Shrestha, Katheryn Urbanowski, Tom Schaffer, Lau-rene Cheung, Arbor Dykema, Dhananjai Seth.
My PhD would not have been possible without the invaluable help and support of my dear mother Gabriele Omansen. You always had an open ear for any kind of problems and discussions and you followed my journey with great empathy and support. I had wished so much that we could have continued our paths alongside for a longer while. You were an inspiration and taught me kindness and openness to the world. Thank you.
