Daniela Maria Cirillo

Dr. Daniela Cirillo holds several international appointments, including serving as a WHO Technical Advisor for TB diagnostics, Co-Chair of the New Diagnostics Working Group of the Stop TB Partnership, Principal Investigator of the ECDC TB Reference Laboratory Network, member of the EUCAST Mycobacteria Committee, and a member of the TB Disease Specific Coordinating Committee advising the ECDC on diagnostics.

With over 400 peer-reviewed publications, six book chapters, and 18,000 citations (H-index 66), Daniela has dedicated her career to advancing diagnostics for TB and antimicrobial resistance. Her work focuses on setting international standards, tailoring diagnostic algorithms, and building laboratory capacity in resource-limited setting. Since 2006, she has led the WHO Supranational TB Reference Laboratory, supporting over 10 countries in the Balkans, Africa, and Asia and in 2012, established the WHO Collaborating Centre for TB Laboratory Strengthening in Milan. 

In collaboration with partners such as the ECDC, WHO, and FIND, Daniela has spearheaded projects that integrate innovative diagnostics, including sequencing technologies, to enhance the rapid and precise detection of TB and resistance patterns. Their role as Co-Chair of the New Diagnostics Working Group has provided insight into emerging technologies and fostered collaborations with key global health stakeholders. As a member of the EUCAST Mycobacteria Committee, Daniela contributed to developing standardized methods for determining MIC distributions and ECOFFs for new antitubercular drugs in clinical trials.

Daniela has coordinated or led work packages in numerous EU-funded initiatives (FP7, Horizon, Horizon Europe, EU Health Program, JPIAMR, IMI, EDCTP) aimed at translating research into practical solutions for TB and antimicrobial resistance. With collaborators, Dr. [Your Name] has supported several countries across various WHO regions in developing customized diagnostic algorithms, National TB Strategic Plans, and Laboratory Strategic Plans. They have also facilitated national laboratory gap analyses and the preparation of Global Fund concept notes for laboratory components.

Over the past decade, Daniela and her team have trained over 300 individuals from 26 countries across the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Europe in WHO-endorsed rapid diagnostic techniques for tuberculosis, antibiotic resistance detection, and next-generation sequencing technologies.

In the last five years, she has collaborated with WHO on the Global Drug Resistance Surveillance project, providing laboratory activity monitoring, sequencing, phenotypic drug susceptibility testing, and data interpretation in priority countries. Her experience with the approval and rollout of new TB drugs has underscored the critical need for regulated cooperation, communication, data sharing, and interdisciplinary approaches among scientists and stakeholders to address drug resistance and improve TB diagnosis and treatment.

Committed to advancing the mission of GoFAST, Daniela looks forward to contributing further by advancing our shared goals of streamlining TB diagnosis and treatment.