Flavian Fukah Jam, a microbiologist from Cameroon, was on the verge of giving up science. Then the CAIDERA Global Centre offered him a new opportunity. He is now working on his PhD in Germany, researching innovative ways to combat infectious diseases. CAIDERA is one of a total of eight Global Centres in the fields of climate protection and health that the DAAD supports with funding from the Federal Foreign Office.

Flavian Fukah Jam conducts research in a field that saves lives. But before he joined the Infection Immunology research group at the University of Tübingen, the 27-year-old Cameroonian also had to overcome obstacles. In this interview, he talks about his journey.

Mr Fukah, in 2023 you began a Master’s programme in Infection Biology and Control at the DAAD-funded Global Centre CAIDERA (Central African Infectious Disease and Epidemics Research Alliance). How significant was this step for your scientific career?

It was an unexpected opportunity. I had previously started my Master’s programme in Microbiology at the University of Buea in Cameroon but was unable to continue my work on the COVID-19 pathogen SARS-CoV-2 there. There were problems with damaged research equipment, I received no funding – I couldn’t go on. I was on the verge of turning my back on science and earning a living as a taxi driver. But then my acquaintance Vanessa Amana Bokagne told me about the new CAIDERA centre. I applied, was accepted, and moved to Gabon. There, the Centre de Recherches Médicales de Lambaréné works together with the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, the French Institut Pasteur and other partners under the umbrella of CAIDERA.

What makes CAIDERA special?

CAIDERA focuses on infectious diseases. This is of great scientific relevance, particularly for the African continent, which is repeatedly hit exceptionally hard by such diseases. CAIDERA offers African students a wide range of opportunities to use scientific methods to combat these diseases. In my cohort alone, students from six African countries came together, from different regions of the continent, each with their own challenges. This helped us all to learn from one another and deepen our knowledge in a unique way. And, of course, we benefited from the extensive expertise of the lecturers from Africa and other parts of the world.

You completed your Master’s degree with CAIDERA and were able to continue your research immediately afterwards as a PhD student in the same research group at the University of Tübingen. What drives you?

In medicine in particular, science gives us the precious opportunity to improve people’s lives, and even to save them. Being able to contribute to this motivates me greatly. Immunology has fascinated me since the start of my studies, and I am glad that I have been able to continually deepen my knowledge and, in my PhD, pursue a promising approach to combating infection through systems serology.

You are doing your PhD at the University of Tübingen. What do you appreciate about the university?

I particularly like the university’s strong interdisciplinary and intercultural character. The Institute of Tropical Medicine, where I work, offers a very open-minded, international environment. I’ve felt welcome right from the start. This atmosphere also helps me a great deal in my scientific work. My supervisor, Professor Rolf Fendel, believed in me and encouraged me to pursue my PhD.

What are your goals for the future?

My focus is currently entirely on my PhD. I have learnt in my life that not everything can be planned. I am grateful that the DAAD funding of CAIDERA has opened new opportunities for me in science. Now I would like to take my research further.

Interview: Johannes Göbel (14 April 2026)