Jean-Marc Kutz

Jean-Marc Kutz is a Medical studies / Medical doctoral student medical student at the University of Hamburg / Bernhard-Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNITM).

He is committed to the fight on neglected tropical diseases and dedicated to global access to health care. He is conducting research on schistosomiasis in Madagascar, in particular on Female Genital Schistosomiasis (FGS), where the disease is highly endemic and causes severe damage to the health of affected people. In Madagascar, the BNITM has a long-standing collaboration with Malagasy health institutions to achieve our goal of ending the neglected.

He says he is proud to work in a dynamic German-Malagasy team and honoured to now represent the RSTMH. Especially for young scientists it is important to network at the beginning of their career, therefore he would like to build bridges between the RSTMH, the BNITM and Malagasy researchers.

Together with the BNITM and our team in Madagascar, he have already been able to screen and treat women for FGS in rural primary health care centres, a health service not yet offered by the local health system. Their project is currently being expanded with the aim of a permanent, and sustainable implementation coupled with further measures for women's health. My previous and ongoing work on FGS has been rewarded with the Bayer Fellowship for medical science from the Bayer Foundation.

Not only has the COVID-19 crisis has underlined the need for capacity building, to prepare for the next challenges and pandemics: health systems worldwide need to be strengthened. Thier ongoing biosafety programme, which is promoted in Madagascar, has already built laboratory infrastructure, conducted training and increased awareness among health and laboratory staff.

First and foremost, he us aspiring doctor and dedicated to patient care. But it is research that makes evidence-based medicine, resilient health systems and the fight against neglected tropical diseases possible.
In his free time he likes to spend time on, in and around the water as a sailor, swimmer and volunteer lifeguard.