His poster presented research results from the project “UNMASK-TB: Face mask sampling for the detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in children and adults”.
As a DZIF MD fellow, Wölk interrupted his studies in April 2024 for one year and has been conducting research at the Chiril Draganiuc Institute of Pneumology and the National Reference Laboratory for Tuberculosis in Chișinău, Republic of Moldova. He collaborates with Dr. Dumitru Chesov, pneumologist and infectious diseases specialist in Moldova who works also as a clinical scientist at the Research Center Borstel. They are investigating whether the genetic material of tuberculosis bacteria is present in the exhaled breath of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis and whether this genetic material can be captured inside respiratory masks. Lennard Meiwes from the University of Lübeck, also a medical doctoral student at the Clinical Infectious Diseases research group in Borstel, learned the method from scientists in England and has developed it further in recent years. The masks are prepared using a 3D printer in the laboratory in Borstel before they are sent to Moldova.
The interim analysis of the data revealed that almost half of the patients with pulmonary tuberculosis have genetic material from the tuberculosis bacteria in their exhaled breath, which can also be captured with the masks. Only in children the method does not work. Here, however, the Borstel researchers were successful with partners in the EU project “stool4TB” in another way. DNA of the tuberculosis bacteria can be easily detected in the stool of children suffering from tuberculosis.
“This award is a great honor and motivates me to continue my research,” says Wölk. “Especially in regions with limited access to conventional diagnostic methods, this method could offer a valuable alternative.”
The DZIF/DGI Annual Congress is the central platform for the exchange of infection scientists in Germany. The prize is also a reward for the successful cooperation with the partners in Moldova
18.02.2025