On 9-10 September 2026, a two-day workshop was held at the Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp (Belgium), bringing together researchers working on tuberculosis, leprosy and Buruli ulcer to exchange experiences on RNA-based approaches for assessing mycobacterial viability and identifying potential biomarkers of treatment response.
The BLMs4BU consortium actively contributed to the workshop, sharing its experience in studying bacterial clearance and treatment response in Buruli ulcer. In particular, Emma Sáez-López presented “Bacterial clearance in Buruli ulcer lesions from patients in the BLMs4BU study”, highlighting findings and practical experience from in vitro experiments and the analysis of clinical samples collected within the project.
The workshop provided an opportunity to discuss rRNA-based approaches and the practical challenges involved in their implementation, including sample storage and transport, RNA extraction and DNase treatment, target selection, qPCR and dPCR, normalization strategies, quality control and the application of these methods to clinical and field samples.
The exchange of experiences was particularly valuable for identifying common challenges and opportunities for methodological harmonization across mycobacterial diseases. The discussions highlighted the importance of collaborative validation efforts, best-practice recommendations and continued collaboration to strengthen RNA-based approaches for assessing bacterial viability.
The active participation of BLMs4BU brought an important Buruli ulcer perspective to the meeting, helping to connect methodological developments with real-world clinical samples and treatment-response research. These efforts may contribute to more robust approaches for monitoring bacterial clearance and treatment response.