Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are related to the bacteria that cause tuberculosis and leprosy, and can produce disabling infections that are difficult to treat. The number of these infections is rising worldwide, and PhD student Victor Næstholt Dahl will be one of the first researchers in Denmark to study the bacteria and how to handle them clinically, in the project ‘Tuberculosis 2.0: The clinical significance of nontuberculous mycobacteria isolation in Denmark’. The project examines the significance of NTM infections for patients in Denmark, including risk factors for disease, treatment and treatment outcomes based on, inter alia, unique, nationwide microbiological register data collected over 30 years.

The Ministry of Higher Education and Science has chosen to support this project with the coveted Elite Research travel scholarship. The DKK 200,000 grant means that Victor Næstholt Dahl can go on exchange to the Radboud University Medical Centre in Nijmegen in the Netherlands, which is where Jakko van Ingen, his international PhD co-supervisor and one of the world’s leading NTM experts, is based.

Victor Næstholt Dahl has been described by his PhD supervisor as a brilliant research talent who will certainly contribute important research on infections in the future.

Contact

Doctor and PhD student Victor Næstholt Dahl
Aarhus University, the Department of Public Health, Centre for Global Health, and
Aarhus University Hospital, Department of Infectious Diseases
E-mail: victordahl@ph.au.dk