UNIVERSITE DES SCIENCES DES TECHNIQUES ET DES TECHNOLOGIES DE BAMAKO

Their core work

USTTB is a public university in Bamako, Mali whose research strength centers on the biology and control of disease-transmitting insects — mosquitoes, sandflies, tsetse flies, and midges — that drive some of the world's highest-burden infectious diseases. Their scientists work directly in one of the most endemic regions for malaria, dengue, and leishmaniasis, giving them field access and biological resources that no European laboratory can replicate. In EU consortia, they contribute in-country expertise, local vector populations, and ground-level validation for control strategies and research infrastructure developed elsewhere. Their recent involvement in insecticide development signals a move from characterization science toward applied disease control.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their earliest H2020 engagement (INFRAVEC2, 2017), USTTB was embedded in a broad vector surveillance infrastructure project covering virtually every major insect disease vector in Africa — from Anopheles mosquitoes and sandflies to tsetse flies and Culicoides — alongside a wide panel of arboviruses including Zika, Dengue, and Rift Valley Fever. By 2021, their keyword footprint had narrowed sharply to malaria and the category of vector-borne disease in general, within a project focused on insecticide development rather than surveillance infrastructure. This suggests a deliberate shift from broad-spectrum vector characterization toward applied malaria control — moving closer to intervention science and further from basic taxonomic or ecological work.

USTTB appears to be moving from infrastructure-level vector research toward applied malaria control science, particularly insecticide development — a direction with strong alignment to WHO goals and growing donor interest in next-generation vector control tools.

How they like to work

USTTB has never coordinated an H2020 project — both their participations are as partner or third party, which is the norm for sub-Saharan African universities in EU-funded consortia where administrative lead stays with European institutions. They join large, complex consortia: INFRAVEC2 alone involved 40 partners across 16 countries. This tells a prospective partner that USTTB is experienced at operating within multi-partner structures and contributing specialist field capacity without needing administrative overhead. Expect them to be a reliable in-country node, not a project driver.

Their H2020 network spans 40 unique consortium partners across 16 countries — a broad footprint for an institution with only two projects, reflecting participation in large pan-European and global health infrastructure consortia. Their geographic position in West Africa likely makes them a bridge node between European tropical medicine centres and other sub-Saharan African partners.

What sets them apart

USTTB's primary value proposition to any consortium working on tropical disease vectors is irreplaceable: physical presence in Mali, one of the world's highest-burden countries for malaria and other mosquito-borne diseases. European institutions studying Anopheles gambiae or testing insecticide formulations need African field partners not just for data quality but for ethical, logistical, and scientific reasons that cannot be substituted with laboratory work. No amount of European infrastructure spending replicates access to authentic disease-endemic field sites, local vector colonies, and community-level research that USTTB can provide to a consortium building on African disease realities.

Highlights from their portfolio

• INFRAVEC2
  A large-scale EU research infrastructure project (2017-2022) explicitly built to support vector-borne disease control across Europe and endemic regions — notable for drawing a Malian university into a 40-partner consortium as a funded participant, not merely a token collaborator.
• CypTox
  A researcher training project focused on developing the next generation of selective, safe insecticides — notable for bridging fundamental chemistry with direct malaria control application, and for engaging USTTB as an active partner through 2025.