Ding, Xavier

Biography

Dr. Xavier Ding holds a PhD in Molecular Biology from the University of Basel for his work conducted at the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research, a center affiliated with the Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, and a postgraduate certificate on Clinical Trials from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. After working for one year at the Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques (CSRS) in Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire) on malaria and other tropical diseases research projects, Xavier joined the Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV). For three and a half years, he managed several biological testing platforms within the MMV Drug Discovery department. His work included the development of a systematic evaluation framework to identifiy resistance liabilities early in the drug development process as well as the implementation of a laboratory in Côte d’Ivoire, in partnership with CSRS, to evaluate the activity of newly developed antimalarial compounds against field isolates. Xavier joined FIND’s Malaria programme in 2014 where he manages several projects. Since he joined, he has contributed to the development of a highly sensitive malaria rapid diagnostic test and is working on several initiatives to improve diagnostic solutions for Plasmodium vivax detection.

Research Interest

Drug Development, the Biotechnology, Business management