Dr Benedikt Ley

Principal Research Fellow and Senior Lecturer

Qualifications:

PhD, University of Vienna, Austria, 2013; Master of Public Health, University of Liverpool, UK, 2011; Master of Science, University of Vienna, Austria, 2007

Location:

Darwin - Royal Darwin Hospital campus

Biography:

Benedikt Ley is a public health expert specializing in diagnostics, malaria, and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency. He began his career in 2008 with the University of Vienna (Austria), working in Bangladesh on infectious diseases along the Bangladesh–Myanmar border.

In 2009 he joined the International Vaccine Institute (Korea), based in Zanzibar and subsequently in Kenya, focusing on typhoid fever. In 2012, Benedikt moved to the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp (Belgium), where he worked on Salmonella spp. infections. He completed his PhD in 2013 with the University of Vienna, focusing on the diagnosis of cholera and typhoid fever.

Benedikt joined the Menzies School of Health Research in 2014, where he currently holds the position of Principal Research Fellow and Senior Lecturer. His research focuses on the interaction between G6PD deficiency and the malaria parasite Plasmodium vivax in the human host, assessing G6PD deficiency as a risk factor in standard malaria treatment, and evaluating diagnostic tests for their field use, particularly in remote settings. He is also actively involved in teaching in the Menzies Postgraduate Public Health programs at Charles Darwin University. 

Dr Benedikt Ley
Email
Research Themes

  1. Sadhewa A, Satyagraha AW, Alam MS, Adissu W, Anvikar A, Bancone G, Bharti PK, Bhutani VK, Das S, Hamid MMA, Hossain MS, Nitika N, Okech BA, Panggalo LV, Talukdar A, von Fricken ME, Wong RJ, Yilma D, Price RN, Thriemer K, Ley B. Performance of quantitative point-of-care tests to measure G6PD activity: An individual participant data meta-analysis. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2025 Mar 25;19(3):e0012864. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0012864. PMID: 40132008; PMCID: PMC11936200.

  2. Sadhewa A, Panggalo LV, Nanine I, Price RN, Thriemer K, Satyagraha AW, Ley B. Field evaluation of a novel semi-quantitative point-of-care diagnostic for G6PD deficiency in Indonesia. PLoS One. 2024 Apr 30;19(4):e0301506. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0301506. PMID: 38687748; PMCID: PMC11060553.

  3. Ley B, Luzzatto L. Plasmodium vivax Malaria and G6PD Testing. Pathogens. 2023 Dec 13;12(12):1445. doi: 10.3390/pathogens12121445. PMID: 38133328; PMCID: PMC10748023.

  4. Sadhewa A, Cassidy-Seyoum S, Acharya S, Devine A, Price RN, Mwaura M, Thriemer K, Ley B. A Review of the Current Status of G6PD Deficiency Testing to Guide Radical Cure Treatment for Vivax Malaria. Pathogens. 2023 Apr 27;12(5):650. doi: 10.3390/pathogens12050650. PMID: 37242320; PMCID: PMC10220632.

  5. Sadhewa A, Cassidy-Seyoum S, Acharya S, Devine A, Price RN, Mwaura M, Thriemer K, Ley B. A Review of the Current Status of G6PD Deficiency Testing to Guide Radical Cure Treatment for Vivax Malaria. Pathogens. 2023 Apr 27;12(5):650. doi: 10.3390/pathogens12050650. PMID: 37242320; PMCID: PMC10220632.

  6. Sadhewa A, Cassidy-Seyoum S, Acharya S, Devine A, Price RN, Mwaura M, Thriemer K, Ley B. A Review of the Current Status of G6PD Deficiency Testing to Guide Radical Cure Treatment for Vivax Malaria. Pathogens. 2023 Apr 27;12(5):650. doi: 10.3390/pathogens12050650. PMID: 37242320; PMCID: PMC10220632.

  7. Sadhewa A, Cassidy-Seyoum S, Acharya S, Devine A, Price RN, Mwaura M, Thriemer K, Ley B. A Review of the Current Status of G6PD Deficiency Testing to Guide Radical Cure Treatment for Vivax Malaria. Pathogens. 2023 Apr 27;12(5):650. doi: 10.3390/pathogens12050650. PMID: 37242320; PMCID: PMC10220632.

  8. Ley B, Winasti Satyagraha A, Kibria MG, Armstrong J, Bancone G, Bei AK, Bizilj G, Brito M, Ding XC, Domingo GJ, von Fricken ME, Gornsawun G, Lam B, Menard D, Monteiro W, Ongarello S, Pal S, Panggalo LV, Parikh S, Pfeffer DA, Price RN, da Silva Orfano A, Wade M, Wojnarski M, Worachet K, Yar A, Alam MS, Howes RE. Repeatability and reproducibility of a handheld quantitative G6PD diagnostic. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2022 Feb 17;16(2):e0010174. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0010174. PMID: 35176015; PMCID: PMC8853557.

  9. Thriemer K, Ley B, von Seidlein L. Towards the elimination of Plasmodium vivax malaria: Implementing the radical cure. PLoS Med. 2021 Apr 23;18(4):e1003494. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1003494. PMID: 33891589; PMCID: PMC8064598.

  10. Ley B, Alam MS, Kibria MG, Marfurt J, Phru CS, Ami JQ, Thriemer K, Auburn S, Jahan N, Johora FT, Hossain MS, Koepfli C, Khan WA, Price RN. Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activity in individuals with and without malaria: Analysis of clinical trial, cross-sectional and case-control data from Bangladesh. PLoS Med. 2021 Apr 23;18(4):e1003576. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1003576. PMID: 33891581; PMCID: PMC8064587.

 
Click here to view more Benedikt Ley publications
  1. MEDIA RELEASE | Menzies researchers RESPOND to priority diseases in our global neighbourhood
  2. MEDIA RELEASE | Is malaria treatment safer than we think? New study investigates
  3. Finding innovative solutions to eliminate vivax malaria by 2030
  4. Menzies investigators and international collaborators from ACROSS and other institutions have published a meta-analysis
  5. New study shows faster way to cure vivax malaria
  6. 7th International Conference on Plasmodium vivax Research | Final Report
  7. Asia–Pacific research partnerships set to tackle big challenges
  8. SMH | Commonwealth regional research grants key to 'science diplomacy'