When More Is Not Better: Rethinking STI Diagnostics

Jason Ong

Melbourne Sexual Health Centre (AUS)

Professor Dr. Jason Ong is a distinguished academic and sexual health physician dedicated to advancing research and improving health outcomes for marginalised populations. He is the Director of Melbourne Sexual Health Centre, the largest sexual health clinic in Australia. He is also the inaugural Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Sexual Health. With a rare combination of expertise as a clinician, health economist, and epidemiologist, he leverages his diverse skill set to address complex public health challenges. His research focuses on amplifying the voices of underserved communities and tackling taboo topics to promote informed decision-making and policy development.

When Evidence Meets Ambiguity: Molecular BV, Alternative Specimens, and the Mycoplasma Dilemma

Piet Cools

Ghent University (BEL)

Prof. Dr. Piet Cools is Professor at Ghent University, Belgium, where he heads the Laboratory Bacteriology Research within the Department of Diagnostic Sciences. His research focuses on women’s reproductive health microbiology, with particular expertise in sexually transmitted infections, bacterial vaginosis, vulvovaginal candidiasis, the vaginal microbiome, Group B Streptococcus, and female genital schistosomiasis (FGS).

His work combines molecular diagnostics, clinical microbiology and microbiome research, with a strong emphasis on the development, clinical validation and implementation of diagnostic approaches. He has led and contributed to clinical validation studies of molecular diagnostic assays and has extensive experience in study design, comparator and reference method selection, and interpretation of diagnostic performance. Prof. Cools coordinates and contributes to international research collaborations across Europe and sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in Ethiopia, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia, linking diagnostic innovation with clinical research and laboratory capacity strengthening.