Clarissa Prazeres da Costa

Clarissa Prazeres da Costa, MD, is a consultant medical microbiologist, immunologist, infectious disease specialist and lecturer at the Technical University of Munich (TUM). She heads the parasitology diagnostics department and the teaching unit at the Institute of Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Hygiene. Her groups’ research focus is to understand the immunological basis of host-parasite interactions of zoonotic and neglected tropical diseases (NTD), type 2 immune disorders such as allergies - and to foster translation of results into therapeutic and advanced diagnostic applications. Furthermore, the group explores the impact of chronic infections on maternal and child health, especially in the context of the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD). The methods range from immunological and molecular analyses and experimental models to omics-driven data acquisition and analysis in clinical trials in Africa. She is a full member of the German Societies for Tropical Medicine and Global Health (DTG), Microbiology (DGHM), Parasitology (DGP), Infectiology (DGI) and Immunology (DGFI) as well as founding and steering board member of the German Alliance for Global Health Research (GLOHRA). She is the co-founder of the Center for Global Health, where she spearheads interdisciplinary activities such as the development of NTD therapeutics and diagnostics, the integration of novel technologies such as machine learning into the SDG3 agenda, the investigation of the environmental impact on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and of Women’s Health in sub-Saharan Africa. As member of the Women in Global Health (WGH) and of the German Network against Neglected Tropical Diseases (DNTDs), her key interests relate to health policy and advocacy for women in decision-making roles in Global and Women’s Health, where she actively drives the agenda of gender-related topics in NTD’s in Africa. www.med.tum.de/de/center-global-health and www.mikrobio.med.tum.de/en/home/research/da-costa-group.