Professor Francine Ntoumi is senior lecturer in Immunology at the University Marien Ngouabi, Republic of the Congo and associate professor in Human Parasitology at the University of Tübingen in Germany. She is a member of several international scientific committees and networks in Africa, Europe, and the US. Over the span of her career, she has trained many African scientists of different nationalities in immunology and molecular epidemiology of malaria. Since January 2009, Professor Ntoumi has been involved in developing health research capacities in central Africa through the regional network of excellence, namely the Central Africa Network on Tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, and Malaria. Since 2018, she has also supported the Pan-African Network for Rapid Research, Response, Relief, and Preparedness for Infectious Diseases Epidemics. She has worked to develop health research capacities in the Republic of the Congo through the Fondation Congolaise pour la Recherche Médicale, which is now recognized as a key research and training institution within the country.

For her significant engagement in research and building research capacities, Professor Ntoumi received the African Union Kwame Nkrumah Regional Scientific Award for Women in 2012, the Georg Forster Scientific Prize of the Alexander Humboldt Foundation in 2014, and the Christophe Mérieux Scientific Prize in 2016. She was also the recipient of the Gold Medal in Science by the Head of States of the Republic of the Congo in 2016. Professor Ntoumi earned a Doctor of Philosophy in Health Sciences and Habilitation at University Pierre and Marie Curie, France. She then conducted research on malaria molecular epidemiology at the Institute Pasteur in Paris, France. Professor Ntoumi was one of the first African scientists to characterize field isolates from Senegal, Gabon, and Republic of the Congo. From 2005–2010, Professor Ntoumi was the first African leader of the Multilateral Initiative on Malaria.