26.05.2025
Fruitful Collaboration: Outstanding Researchers Honored
The Research Center Borstel (FZB), Leibniz Lung Center, has maintained a close scientific partnership for many years with colleagues from the Republic of Moldova – a country classified by the World Health Organization as having a high incidence of tuberculosis.
A prime example of this collaboration is the work of Assoc. Professor Dr. Dumitru Chesov. As a member of the Clinical Infectiology Research Group at FZB and the “ClinTB” Core Unit at the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Dr. Chesov focuses on drug-resistant tuberculosis in Eastern Europe. In 2024, he completed his habilitation at FZB’s partner university, the State University of Medicine and Pharmacy (USMF) in Chișinău, with a thesis titled "Optimization of Tuberculosis Diagnosis and Improvement of Treatment."
Dr. Ecaterina Noroc, whose research centers on the transmission of drug-resistant tuberculosis strains in hospitals in Moldova, is also set to earn her PhD at USMF in 2024. Her dissertation, "Assessment and Prioritization of Risk Factors for the Transmission of Drug-Resistant Strains to Inpatients in Tuberculosis Treatment," was likewise carried out in close cooperation with FZB researchers.
Both works received top national honors: the National Agency for Quality Assurance in Education and Research of the Republic of Moldova awarded Dr. Chesov’s habilitation thesis and Dr. Noroc’s dissertation as the best works in biomedical research in 2024. Dr Valeriu Crudu from Chisinau, also a long-standing cooperation partner of the FZB, was also honoured as their mentor.
“We wholeheartedly congratulate our colleagues from the Republic of Moldova on these outstanding achievements,” said Professor Christoph Lange, Medical Director and Head of the Clinical Infectiology Research Group at FZB. “Their success also reflects on us, and we are proud for our partnership on this important work.”
References (selection):
Chesov E, Chesov D, Reimann M, Dreyer V, Utpatel C, Gröschel MI, Ciobanu N, Crudu V, Lange C, Heyckendorf J, Matthias Merker. Impact of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strain type on multidrug-resistant tuberculosis severity, Republic of Moldova. J Infect. 2023 Oct 10:S0163-4453(23)00532-7. doi: 10.1016/j.jinf.2023.10.001. Online ahead of print. PMID: 37827458
Chesov E, Chesov D, Maurer F, Andres S, Utpatel C, Barilar I, Donica A, Reimann M, Niemann S, Lange C, Crudu V, Heyckendorf J, Merker M, Emergence of bedaquiline-resistance in a high-burden country of tuberculosis. Eur Respir J. 2022 Mar 24;59(3):2100621. doi: 10.1183/13993003.00621-2021. Print 2022 Mar. PMID: 34503982
Chesov D, Heyckendorf J, Alexandru S, Donica A, Chesov E, Reiman M, Crudu V, Botnaru V, Lange C. Impact of bedaquiline on treatment outcomes of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in a high-burden country. Eur Respir J 2020 doi: 10.1183/13993003.02544-2020. Online ahead of print. PMID: 33334942
Noroc E, Chesov D, Merker M, Gröschel MI, Barilar I, Dreyer V, Ciobanu N, Reimann M, Crudu V, Lange C. Limited nosocomial transmission of drug-resistant-tuberculosis, R. Moldova. Emerg Infect Dis. 2023 May;29(5):1046-1050. doi: 10.3201/eid2905.230035. PMID: 37081601
Contact
Ass. Prof. Dr. Dumitru Chesov
Clinical Infectious Diseases
DZIF core unit “ClinTB”
Research Center Borstel
Parkallee 35
23845 Borstel
Germany