Thanks to all who braved the cold temperatures to join our January TB Center Meeting on Wednesday, January 17th! First, Stephanie Pearlman, PhD Candidate from the Haselton Lab, presented on a newly funded NIH R01 titled, "A 100-fold more sensitive TB diagnostic based on magnetic concentration and “coffee-ring” formation".
This grant aims to develop a new microscopy TB diagnostic based on magnetic gathering of tuberculosis bacilli from the total sputum volume and, using the microfluidics of “coffee ring” formation, concentrate any tuberculosis present into a pre-selected region of a slide for inspection by standard bright field microscopy. This R01 is a multi-PI project in partnership with Rick Haselton (VU), David Wright (VU), and Jonathan Blackburn at University of Cape Town.
Jason Cummins, MPH, Program Manager and Senior Epidemiologist of the Tennessee State Department of Health, TB Elimination Program, presented on 2017 TB epidemiology for the state. In 2017, there were 128 cases of active tuberculosis in the state of Tennessee, a 1.9/100,000 case rate. 24 of those cases occurred in Nashville Davidson County. This is an increase from the number of cases in 2016 (103), however similar numbers were seen in 2015 (131).
Photo: Shapiro, H. M. & Hänscheid, T. Fuchsin fluorescence in Mycobacterium tuberculosis: The Ziehl-Neelsen stain in a new light. J. Microbiol. Methods 74, 119–120 (2008).