Kelly Herdzik received her Startstipendium for research on antibiotic use in young children in Ghana and Zambia: ‘My hope is that this project will generate new knowledge about antibiotic use that we have not seen until now. The Startstipendium gives me the opportunity to bring that knowledge back to the affected communities, to jointly discuss possible solutions and at the same time strengthen my own expertise in implementation research.’ 

Herdzik is an epidemiologist: ‘I study how diseases spread in populations and what we can do to prevent them more effectively. I studied epidemiology at the University of Michigan in the United States, where I obtained my Master of Public Health and PhD.  Two years ago, I moved from Florida to the Netherlands for my current postdoctoral position at Amsterdam UMC Research BV.’ 

She is currently working on the ROTA-Biota project. In this project, she investigates with her team why and how antibiotics are used in infants in Ghana and Zambia. The data come from a large clinical trial of a new rotavirus vaccine:  ‘This has given us a unique and rich dataset with information on antibiotic use in both mothers and children during the first two years of the child’s life. 

With the Startstipendium (starting grant), I want to focus especially on the difference between formal and informal use of antibiotics and what that means for our surveillance systems. Formal use includes situations where a doctor writes a prescription and this is recorded in the healthcare system.  

Bacteria that no longer respond to antibiotics  

But in our study population, people also sometimes buy antibiotics without a prescription or use leftovers from a previous illness. This informal use is usually not captured in official records. That is a major problem, because it means we miss part of the real antibiotic use and thus part of the risk of antimicrobial resistance: bacteria that no longer respond to antibiotics. This is particularly worrying for infants, because they are more vulnerable to severe infections with resistant bacteria. It is very difficult to study behaviors that are not recorded – how do you measure the use that you normally do not see? Thanks to the Startstipendium, I can focus exactly on this blind spot. 

For me, the value of the Startstipendium lies in what it makes possible. First, I want to use this funding to travel to Ghana and Zambia to meet with local collaborators once we have preliminary results. Together, we can start developing potential interventions to reduce hidden antibiotic use and close some of the gaps in current monitoring. The Startstipendium thus creates space for real dialogue with the communities that are most affected by this problem. 

Use the Startstipendium to attend a training at the University of Washington 

In addition, I plan to use the Startstipendium to attend a training in implementation science at the University of Washington. Implementation science asks: how do we make sure that good ideas and research findings actually reach practice? With these skills, I can design future studies in which we not only develop interventions together with local partners but also test and implement them in real-world settings. 

My hope is that this project will generate new knowledge about previously undetected antibiotic use. The Startstipendium gives me the opportunity to bring this knowledge back to the affected communities, to host a dialogue about possible solutions and at the same time strengthen my own expertise in implementation research. In this way, the grant can be a starting point for improving the antibiotic surveillance system and contribute to preventing misuse and overuse of antibiotics. 

The Startstipendium of the UvA Fund 

With the Startstipendium, the UvA Fund supports promising young medical researchers. Candidates for the Startstipendium are employed by Amsterdam UMC or Amsterdam UMC Research BV, are affiliated with one of the eight research institutes of Amsterdam UMC, and obtained their PhD no more than five years ago. The next application round is scheduled for spring 2026. 

Contributing to the Spinoza Fund 

The Spinoza Fund (which makes the support of the Startstipendium possible) supports young academic talent. Anyone can contribute to this fund. For donations and more information, please visit the website or contact Juliëtte Nieuwland: j.m.m.nieuwland@uva.nl.