Katja Polman is an epidemiologist and heads the Unit of Medical Helminthology within the Department of Biomedical Sciences at the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp. She also has a position as associate professor within the Section of Infectious Diseases at the VU University in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. She has a university training in Medical Biology and Parasitology and a Master in Epidemiology, and did her PhD at the Leiden University on the diagnosis and epidemiology of schistosomiasis. Since then she has been working in the field of neglected tropical diseases. Her research interests and expertise lie in the field of parasite epidemiology, with focus on helminth (co)infections and associated diseases.

Research lines

(Eco-)epidemiology, transmission dynamics, diagnosis and control of schistosomiasis and other human helminth infections

Helminth co-infections: interactions with other infections (eg. polyparasitism) and diseases (eg. allergy, malnutrition), and how these shape disease patterns and control.

Katja Polman teaches in various institutional postgraduate and master courses, as well as in university master courses, and is involved in coaching of MSc/PhD students. Main teaching topics are on parasites/helminths, neglected diseases, epidemiology and statistics.

@ITM: Master in Public Health Master of Public Health MPH: Modules Advanced statistics, NTD control, MSc thesis coaching; Postgraduate in Tropical Medicine and International Health TMIH: Module Vector-borne diseases; Postgraduate in Tropical Medicine for Bachelors in Nursing & Midwifery TMED: Module Helminthiases; Short course Molecular Epidemiology/Molecular Data for Infectious Diseases MID: Module Epidemiology.