Dr. Claassens is an associate research professor at the University of Namibia and a medical doctor, African research leader as funded by the British Medical Research Council (MRC), Senior Fellow of the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) and Harvard LEAD fellow in Global Health (2021-22). Her research focuses on tuberculosis, HIV and Covid-19 especially within marginalized societies in Southern Africa, like the San, an indigenous group in northeast Namibia, who suffers a very high burden of tuberculosis. She aims to improve implementation gaps by bringing the bench to the bedside and the community through participatory and community engagement approaches, in conjunction with state-of-the-art diagnostics and other technologies.
She is convinced that transdisciplinary approaches, for instance One Health, could have a monumental impact on health outcomes. I feel very strongly about engaging young girls and women to make their way in the STEM fields and am embarking on a project titled WoNam (Women in Namibia) to ensure equitable opportunities for all.