As touchINFECTIOUS DISEASES continues its mission to deliver concise, expert-led content for busy clinicians, we’re proud to spotlight the future leaders of infectious disease specialists.
In our inaugural touchINFECTIOUS DISEASES Future Leaders 2025 campaign, we celebrate early-career clinicians and researchers whose innovation, leadership, and curiosity are already shaping better outcomes in patient care, antimicrobial stewardship, and global health.
Through exclusive Q&A interviews, they share their inspirations, challenges, and the breakthroughs they believe will define the future of infectious disease research, from precision antimicrobial therapy and vaccine development to AI-driven surveillance and health equity.
Congratulations to our touchINFECTIOUS DISEASES Future Leaders 2025, and thank you for inspiring the community with your vision, dedication, and passion for advancing patient care.
Xin Hui Chan
University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
“You can’t always predict where a new infection will appear, but you can be ready to respond.”
Read our Q&A with Dr Chan here
Ikechukwu Benjamin Moses
EPM-UNIFESP, São Paulo, Brazil,
“The most valuable lesson I’ve learned from my mentors is to focus on doing impactful research. It is essential to consider how your findings influence society and solve real-world problems.”
Read our Q&A with Dr Moses here
Simon Feys
University Hospitals Leuven, Belgium
“Patients are the reason we do any of this. When you’re deep in research, it’s easy to become disconnected. But every time I return to clinical work, I’m reminded of why the research matters.”
Read our Q&A with Dr Feys here
Lydia Efobi
University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria
“In the fight against HIV, we have mastered treating the virus, but we have not yet mastered healing the person.”
Read our Q&A with Dr Efobi here
Merantha Moodley
Africa Health Research Institute, Durban, South Africa
“We are using advanced spatial tools to ask questions we could not previously address in HIV research.”
Read our Q&A with Dr Moodley here
Anthony Bai
Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada
“These studies offer the highest-quality evidence for answering key clinical questions, and they have the potential to significantly change practice.”
Read our Q&A with Dr Bai here
Clarissa Melo Czekster
University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Scotland
“Bacteria are resilient and will always rise to the challenge, understanding that resilience drives my research.”
Read our Q&A with Dr Czekster here
Prerna Salian
Breach Candy Medical Research Centre, Mumbai, India
“Validating a new diagnostic approach that integrates NGS data to open new possibilities in infection risk prediction and antimicrobial stewardship.”
Read our Q&A with Prerna Salian here
Skye Opsteen
University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL, USA
“Keeping that spark of curiosity as you delve deeper into the field helps you to continue advancing your work and staying content, even when there are setbacks.”
Read our Q&A with Dr Opsteen here
Opening soon!
Nominations for touchINFECTIOUS DISEASES Future Leaders 2026
We are excited to announce that nominations for the touchINFECTIOUS DISEASES Future Leaders 2026 will open soon, and we invite the neurology community to share their suggestions for exceptional individuals who are shaping the future of the field through innovation and excellence in patient care.
Register below to hear about nominations as soon as they open!
Register now to receive the touchINFECTIOUS DISEASES newsletter!
Don’t miss out on hearing about our latest peer reviewed articles, expert opinions, conference news, podcasts and more.
