Clerisse, a Congolese, holds a Ph.D. in Agronomy, with a thesis on cassava virology and diagnostics, from the University of Kisangani (DR Congo). He recently joined the Cassava Brown Streak Disease (CBSD) Project as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the IITA’s President Olusegun Obasanjo Research Campus in Eastern DR Congo.

Before taking up this position, Clerisse worked as a Research Associate for the project “Action to Control Cassava Brown Streak Disease in DR Congo” (2018-2021) and, before that, as a Research Assistant for the project “Cassava Disease Surveillance in DR Congo” (2015-2017) at the same research station. In these capacities, he published a book on beans in Europe, co-authored a dozen articles in top peer-reviewed journals, and presented his research at scientific conferences in Africa and beyond. His agronomic research expertise covers mainly cassava virology and diagnostics as well as Biofortified beans.