Dr. Robert Colebunders is professor in tropical diseases at the Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM) in Antwerp and professor in infectious diseases at the University of Antwerp. He is head of the Clinical HIV/STD Unit of ITM. From 1985 to 1988, he worked in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as coordinator of the clinical studies on HIV/AIDS of "Project SIDA" in Kinshasa. He is one of the first physicians who studied and described the clinical manifestations of HIV infection in Africa. He also has been involved in the study of two hemorrhagic fever outbreaks in Africa (Ebola and Marburg). From 2004 to 2005, he spent a sabbatical year at the Infectious Diseases Institute and was mainly involved in starting its outpatient clinic. He is involved in research projects concerning the management of HIV and HIV co-infections in Uganda, the Central African Region, Ethiopia and South Africa. He was coordinating of the International Network for the Study of HIV-associated IRIS (INSHI) and is currently involved in research into the cause of the nodding syndrome. He has published more than 500 articles in peer-reviewed journals.