Second TB Masterclass: training to sustain research and innovate against tuberculosis in Francophone Africa
From 1 to 6 December 2025, Cotonou hosted the second Tuberculosis Masterclass organised by L’Initiative in partnership with WARN/CARN-TB. Designed as an intensive, multidisciplinary training course, the 2025 TB Masterclass — “Prof Gninafon”, named in honour of the first coordinator of Benin’s National Tuberculosis Control Programme — brought together 30 early-career researchers from 13 Francophone African countries, selected by a scientific committee.
Cutting-edge training
Clinicians, biologists, veterinarians, epidemiologists and social-science specialists worked together for a week on a programme combining theoretical instruction, field visits and practical workshops on designing operational-research protocols.
As Dr Dennis Falzon — trainer at the 2025 TB Masterclass and team lead at the World Health Organization’s global TB programme in Switzerland — reminds us, the week helped strengthen local capacities, transmit cutting-edge knowledge and develop projects aligned with national priorities.
The programme mobilised 16 trainers, including several national experts, to root the Masterclass in the local scientific fabric and promote sustainable mentorship. Internal evaluations show an average knowledge gain of approximately 50% between the pre-test and the post-test — a sign of marked skills development.
Training with lasting impact
Beyond training, the initiative produces tangible results. Six projects from the 2023 cohort received seed grants funded by L’Initiative and TDR. As Prof Dissou Affolabi — trainer at the 2025 TB Masterclass, WHO laboratory director and coordinator of Benin’s national tuberculosis control programme — emphasises, it is necessary to “think differently” and adapt national strategies to evolving contexts; the TB Masterclass is becoming a platform for strategic exchange that allows this.
The Masterclass therefore anchors its contribution in sustainability. Dr Joëlle Razafimahefa, a 2023 alumna (class “Roger Milla”), returned to the TB Masterclass in 2025 — this time as a trainer. Symbolic of a consolidating network, Joëlle, a clinical pathologist in Madagascar, notes that “the 2023 Masterclass opened up major research opportunities for me.”
Veronica Noseda, Head of the Operational Research and Sciences Unit at L’Initiative – Expertise France, notes that “the Masterclass has enabled the effective creation of a network of young researchers.”
Researchers Speak Out
At the core of the fight against tuberculosis are researchers. In the podcast “Tuberculosis: Voices of Research,” L’Initiative gives them a platform across seven episodes, blending social sciences and medicine to explore the dynamics of the epidemic.
