Assistant Professor
Biography
Esther van Kleef is a senior scientist at the University of Oxford, affiliated with the Oxford Nuffield Department of Medicine and holds an honorary appointment as assistant professor at the University Medical Centre Utrecht. She previously served as a technical consultant to the World Health Organization (WHO), where she spearheaded the analyses for the Global Surveillance of Antimicrobial Resistance Report 2025.
With expertise in quantitative methodology, mathematical modelling, and surveillance data analysis, Esther has worked in both high- and low-income settings. She has led interdisciplinary projects to enhance infectious disease surveillance and response in Europe and African settings.
Her current research explores key drivers and AMR transmission dynamics between community and healthcare settings and the effectiveness of mitigation strategies. Esther is particularly interested in the potential of sequencing data for AMR/ID surveillance and infection prevention & control, as well as exploring the role of the environment in AMR transmission, including the effective delivery of Water Access, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) strategies.
Esther earned a PhD in Infectious Disease Epidemiology from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. She has held academic and public health roles at Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit, Public Health England (UKHSA), the Dutch National Institute of Public Health and the Environment and the Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp. She has also been involved in WHO’s emergency outbreak response efforts, including leading epidemiological and data analysis teams during the 2019–2020 Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
