Annual Meeting brings ComBac-Africa partners together to review progress
On 10 September 2026, members of the ComBac-Africa consortium came together virtually for the project’s Annual Meeting. Bringing together partners from across the consortium, the meeting provided an opportunity to review progress across the different work packages, discuss current challenges and align on priorities for the months ahead. The presentations covered the upcoming clinical study, diagnostic laboratory workflows, sequencing and data management, the One Health study, as well as activities to improve access to relevant antibiotics.
Preparing diagnostic workflows and study sites
A central part of the meeting was dedicated to updates from across the project’s different work packages, giving partners the opportunity to share what has been achieved over the past months and what comes next. One of the key areas of progress in recent months has been the preparation of the participating sites and laboratory processes for the clinical study.
Several partners shared updates on different aspects of these preparations, including Dr Kalpy Coulibaly from ICPI and Judith Fürstenberg from Saarland University, who reported on developments in establishing the diagnostic laboratory workflows since the project’s kick-off meeting. These included site analyses as well as diagnostic and data management workshops in Abidjan, which resulted in the development of a microbiological diagnostic workflow for blood cultures as well as the harmonisation of procedures across the participating sites.
These preparations have been complemented by the Site Initiation Visits, which Dr Valentina Butoescu recapped during the meeting. In particular, she highlighted how the visits have provided an opportunity to discuss local processes with the site teams and clarify how these can be integrated into the study procedures. With several visits now completed, the next steps include obtaining the remaining local Ethics Committee approvals, distributing study-specific Standard Operating Procedures and conducting remote refresher trainings and follow-up activities once approvals are in place.
Advancing the One Health Study
Progress is also being made on the project’s One Health study. Dr Emmanuel Ngbede reported that the study protocol and case report forms have been developed and approved by the German Ethics Committee, with approvals already received for four of the five participating sites at local level. At the same time, the consortium has finalised the Standard Operating Procedure for sample collection and processing, while the dedicated One Health database has been developed and is currently under review.
Further presentations of the annual meeting covered sequencing activities, data management, communication and the consortium’s work to improve access to relevant antibiotics. The meeting concluded with a discussion of open issues, timelines and upcoming activities, helping partners align their work as ComBac-Africa continues moving from preparatory activities towards full study implementation.
