Catharina Boehme knew from the time she entered medical school in Munich that she would dedicate herself to fighting infectious disease in developing countries. And so, naturally, when it was time to undertake postgraduate training she chose tropical medicine as an interne des hôpitaux de Paris. She later joined the Department of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine at the University of Munich.

Her first professional assignment was coordinating TB research activities at the Mbeya Research Program, Tanzania. In that role she first became acquainted with fellow scientists from FIND when she worked with them in 2004 on a project to develop a ground-breaking method for identifying active TB via a quick urine test. The test unfortunately proved unreliable, but Boehme cemented a new relationship.

She joined FIND in December 2005 and began working on two new quick tests for TB that use molecular technology. One of them was the fully automated amplification test that was recently endorsed by the World Health Organization. This innovative test, called the Xpert MTB/RIF, is expected to revolutionize the diagnosis of TB in many countries around the world.

Boehme played a key role from the start, overseeing feasibility, evaluation and implementation studies in eight high-burden countries and studying how to best adapt the device for its future users in the developing world. In October 2010, she was the principal author of a manuscript summarizing study data on Xpert that was published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine.

Looking towards the future, Boehme has a dream. "If I could wish for one thing - it would be for a simple rapid TB test that could be used by people with minimal training at the point of care. A simple test, using a dip stick."

With her colleagues around the world, Boehme believes she can help turn this dream into reality.