Vanderbilt TB Center News

Drs. Timothy Sterling, Bruno Andrade (Instituto Brasileiro para Investigação da Tuberculose (IBIT), Salvador, Brazil), and Thomas Hawn (University of Washington) have just received a 5-year R01 grant from the National Institutes of Health entitled, “Immunogenetic predictors of active and incipient TB in HIV-negative and -positive close TB contacts” (R01AI147765). This was in response to PAR-16-254, "Mechanisms of Mycobacterial-Induced Immunity in HIV-Infected and Uninfected Individuals to Inform Innovative Tuberculosis Vaccine Design (R01)".

The TB Center is hiring an Associate Program Manager who will work closely with the RePORT-Brazil network.

The TB Center Annual Report from FY 2018 has now been published, detailing Center activities, research, and funding for the 2018 fiscal year. See the link below to download the full report! FY 2018 Annual Report

The first scientific publication generated from the RePORT-Brazil collaboration was published this week in Clinical Infectious Disease. This paper investigates the role of genetic polymorphisms in latent tuberculosis (TB) infection and progression to active TB.

Larissa Otero, MD, MPH, is an Assistant Professor and investigator at partner institution Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia (UPCH) and Instituto de Medicina Tropical Alexander von Humboldt (IMTAvH), in Lima, Peru. Dr. Otero was recently awarded the K43 Emerging Global Leader award from the Fogarty International Center (FIC) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Vanderbilt investigators and staff, Timothy Sterling, Marina Figueiredo, and Megan Turner, attended the 4th Annual RePORT International meeting that was held outside of Shanghai, China, September 12-14, 2018. The meeting included all six regions of RePORT: Brazil, China, South Africa, India, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released updated recommendations for use of once-weekly isoniazid-rifapentine for 12 weeks (3HP) for treatment of latent tuberculosis (TB) infection. The updated recommendations, published in CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), support expanded use of an effective, shorter, treatment regimen to reach even more people with latent TB infection. The updated recommendations include the use of 3HP:

On Friday, April 27th the TB Center hosted the 2018 Symposium, "Cutting-Edge Translational Research in Tuberculosis". The symposium was attended by Vanderbilt faculty, staff, and students, as well as TN Department of Health and Metro Nashville Health Department members. We heard from a variety of speakers, who came from Nashville, Cincinnati, Seattle, and Brazil! Thomas Hawn, MD, PhD- "Macrophages and resistance to M.tuberculosis infection"

To the TB Community, The Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) Department of Health will soon begin an island-wide TB screening and treatment project. The goal is to identify, evaluate and treat both active and latent TB infection (LTBI) cases among adults and children living on Majuro Island. The 24-week project will take place between June and September this year, with follow-up and treatment teams continuing to work until November 16, 2018.

The Metro Nashville Public Health Department organized a wonderful event for World TB Day on Friday, March 23, 2018. The event featured talks on the history of TB in Nashville and current epidemiology, connecting health equity and TB, and how to better serve Nashville's refugee community. At the close of the event, a short film, "Tubercules!" was premiered, highlighting the Metro Nashville TB Clinic staff and their tireless efforts to end TB in Nashville. Thanks for hosting us and for a fun and informative day!

Yuri van der Heijden, MD, MPH, will present an abstract at the 22nd International Workshop on HIV and Hepatitis Observational Databases (IWHOD) March 22-24, 2018, titled "Differences in ascertainment of tuberculosis resistance according to four patient-matching strategies using programmatic laboratory data in South Africa".

Heather Ewing, MA(c), MPH(c), presented her MPH thesis on Friday, March 2, titled "Knowledge of Tuberculosis is Associated with Greater Expression of Stigma in Brazil". This project stemmed from a Vanderbilt Trans-Institutional Program grant (TIPs), which focused on healthcare in Brazil.