Advancing ID & AMR Research Through Education: Connecting Knowledge, Expertise, and our Next Generation

Advancing infectious disease (ID) and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) research in Europe requires more than scientific excellence – it demands a connected, well-supported community of experts and emerging researchers. As global health challenges grow in complexity, so too does the need for a new generation equipped not only with knowledge, but with access to networks, mentorship, and real-world experience.

Bridging Gaps for Early-Career Researchers

Early-career researchers often face significant barriers when entering the field. These include limited access to cross-border expertise, integrated research networks, and mentorship from leading specialists. In addition, opportunities to engage in real-world study environments—where research meets clinical practice—are not always accessible.

These gaps can slow the transition from theoretical knowledge to applied, impactful research. Addressing them is essential for ensuring Europe remains prepared to tackle infectious disease threats and AMR effectively.

Education as Network Activation

At Ecraid, education is not treated as a standalone activity. It is seen as a gateway into a living European research ecosystem—one that connects:

• Leading ID and AMR experts
• Clinical trialists and methodological specialists
• Early-career researchers and future leaders
• European and global research initiatives
• Public health and regulatory stakeholders

This approach ensures that education goes beyond training. It becomes a way to activate networks, foster mentorship, and create lasting collaboration.

A key example is the Ecraid x ESCMID Postgraduate Course: “Better Methods for Clinical Studies in Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology.” Here, participants do not simply attend lectures—they become part of a broader European community of expertise.

Expert Spotlight: Henri van Werkhoven, Assistant Professor at Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, UMC Utrecht

Strengthening Methodology in Clinical Research 

High-quality clinical research in ID and AMR depends on strong methodology. Yet across Europe, methodological training remains uneven, and many early-career researchers lack exposure to real-world clinical trial environments. Training researchers means preparing them to design, run, and interpret real clinical studies—not just understand theory. 

Through his role as faculty member, Henri van Werkhoven (left) ensures participants gain direct access to cutting-edge methodological expertise.

What are the biggest gaps in clinical research training today?

It depends on where researchers have received their training and there is a lot of variation in knowledge and experience with clinical research among investigators. I have noticed that while most clinical researchers have a very good understanding of the clinical research question they want to address, they struggle translating it into a properly formulated PICO question or to determine what type of question it is and what study design best addresses their question. This is just the basics of epidemiology that always applies. This is addressed in preparation of the Ecraid x ESCMID Postgraduate Course for which students will learn about these concepts through a short video instruction. For some this will be a refresher while other students are encouraged to study the topics they don't fully comprehend. 

There are also many topic specific knowledge gaps that we address in the course. For example, many PhD students develop a prediction model based on an existing dataset "to get more out of it". They are often not aware of state-of-the art methods for prediction research and of the limitations of using existing datasets. Causal inference is a hard topic for many students. We teach about Directed Acyclic Graphs and Target Trial Emulation as tools to help express the causal thinking in a systematic way. 

Why is methodological rigour critical in ID & AMR studies?

It is of course not specific to ID & AMR studies but generally applies to scientific studies in any field. We want to find the truth about a scientific question, and for that we want to exclude any form of bias. Performing studies that are free of bias is what I would define as methodological rigor. Sometimes it is not possible to prevent a certain type of bias, but it remains important to be aware of it and to caution the end-user of your results that these biases exist. Therefore, understanding of methodological fallacies that come with certain types of questions, study designs or analyses, is of utmost importance in any field. 

Of course, some of these issues are specific to ID & AMR research. For example, when the endpoint of your study is infection with a certain pathogen, it may be difficult to distinguish colonisation from infection, so that you may include false-positive findings. Or the microbiological test may be less sensitive so that you miss the endpoint in some participants.   

Another frequent issue with ID & AMR is that infection of one person in a unit may influence the risk of another person in that same unit of acquiring the infection. Clustering may therefore play a role. Estimation of vaccine effectiveness may be a particular challenge when not everyone is being tested and testing behaviour is somehow related to the willingness to get vaccinated.

How can education better prepare researchers for practical application in clinical research projects?

Education increases knowledge. We hope that researchers following the Ecraid x ESCMID Postgraduate Course will have a better understanding of the type of questions they should ask themselves and their peers while developing their study protocol. However, the approach we take in our course does not only increase bare knowledge but aims at directly translating the newly obtained knowledge into the participants own research project.

What makes the Ecraid x ESCMID Post Graduate course different from other courses?

Each course day consists of a set of lectures in which theory is provided and discussed with the participants. After that, we have two-to-three-hour workshops in which the participants present their own research. We have in-depth discussions about the research question, design, potential biases and how to address these. This is not only very engaging and instructive to the students, it also directly helps improving the quality of their own research.

How does being part of a European network improve the quality of research training?

We have excellent teachers in our network that understand the field of ID and AMR research. Moreover, the course coordinator Prof. Leonardo Leibovici and one of the co-coordinators have a long-lasting editorial history in this area, making it easier for them to signal important knowledge gaps. Finally, the network also helps promote the course so that it can reach interested researchers all over Europe.

What skills should early-career researchers prioritise?

It depends what research career they envision for themselves. For example, someone aiming to be a clinical trialist would want to increase their knowledge about randomised controlled trials – how to choose between all the designs and what this means for analysis and interpretation. 

Another researcher may be more interested in working with existing datasets and the interesting challenges that arise with them - they would want to understand every aspect of confounding, time biases, and the like. Yet, with all of these topics, the students will learn a general way of critical thinking that will help them in their career, irrespective of the paths they choose.

Did you enjoy reading this interview? 

Stay tuned for our next interview with Ecraid Clinical Liaison Vice-Chair Despoina Koulenti on how education is key to building capacity in ID research and combatting AMR.