Since 2019, Koen Vercauteren has served as a clinical microbiologist at the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Belgium. As an associate professor of clinical virology, he leads a research unit built upon four core pillars:
(i) diagnostic virology practice,
(ii) molecular laboratory test development for WHO priority viral diseases like mpox, Ebola virus disease, and Lassa fever,
(iii) metagenomic and viral sequencing capacity co-creation with research partners in endemic low- and middle-income countries for investigating outbreak etiologies, viral evolution and molecular epidemiology,
(iv) multidisciplinary outbreak investigations with experts in pre-clinical research, clinical care, epidemiology, immunology, and ecology.
This integrated approach contributed to elucidating mpox outbreaks in previously non-endemic regions (e.g., Belgium) and endemic areas (e.g., the Democratic Republic of the Congo), thereby informing clinical recognition, laboratory diagnosis, and outbreak response. This mpox research has led to over 20 peer-reviewed publications (including in Nature Medicine, The Lancet, and Cell).
