Vanderbilt TB Center News

VUMC investigators and staff, Timothy Sterling, Stephany Duda, G

The Vanderbilt Tuberculosis Center recently hosted a meeting of researchers involved in our LTBI R01 project “Immunogenetic predictors of active and incipient TB in HIV-negative and -positive close TB contacts” (NIH R01AI147765). The event, which took place between March 21st and 22nd, and included presentations about ongoing research and data findings, working group sessions, and breakout meetings.

The 2024 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in Denver was attended by investigators from RePORT-Brazil, including presentations on recent findings and articles. Poster Presentations:Dr. Gustavo Amorim, PhD - "Estimating Optimal Anti-TB Drug Concentrations in a Prospective, Observational Cohort in Brazil"Dr. Felipe Ridolfi, PhD, MD - “Pharmacogenetic Associations With HIV-1 Virologic Suppression Among Patients with TB/HIV in Brazil”

VUMC investigators and staff, Timothy Sterling, Yuri van der Heijden, Stephany Duda, Marina Figueiredo, Fernanda Mauri, Megan Turner, Maria Arriaga, and Austin Katona; attended the annual RePORT International meeting that was held in Goa, India September 6, 7 and 8, 2023.

Prof. Gavin Churchyard, CEO; Mr. Arshad Hassim, CFO; and Dr. Violet Chihota, Chief Specialist Scientist of the Aurum Institute, visited VUMC from August 21st to August 25th. Their visit strengthens the ongoing collaborative partnership between the two institutions, which is focused on research and global health. Included in the visit were a variety of strategic planning meetings, programmatic evaluations, and a presentation at ID Grand Rounds by Dr. Violet Chihota.

Vanderbilt Tuberculosis Center recently hosted a meeting of researchers involved in our TB/HIV grant "Predictors of treatment toxicity, failure, and relapse in HIV-related tuberculosis" (NIH R01AI120790-04). The event, which took place on April 26th and 27th, included presentations on the results and findings of each working group, breakout sessions, and discussions on future steps to be taken and larger goals of the research.

The Regional Prospective Observational Research for Tuberculosis (RePORT) - Brazil Semi Annual Meeting was held October 17th through October 21st in Salvador, Bahia. Investigators and staff from throughout the network participated in a variety of workshops, presentations, and collaborative planning sessions, both in-person and from remote locations. 

VUMC investigators and staff, Timothy Sterling, Yuri van der Heijden, Stephany Duda, Marina Figueiredo, Fernanda Mauri, Megan Turner, and Austin Katona; attended the annual RePORT International meeting that was held in Cape Town, South Africa, September 7 and 8, 2022. The meeting included all seven regions of RePORT: Brazil, China, South Africa, South Korea, India, Indonesia, and the Philippines. It was a successful meeting full of presentations and collaborative discussions.

Nancy Séraphin, MPH, PhD, Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Medicine (IDGM), and the Emerging Pathogens Institute (EPI) at the University of Florida visited VUMC between June 13th-15th. Her visit was highlighted by meetings with the TB Center team, collaborative discussions with researchers at VUMC, and the presentation of a guest lecture entitled: "The public health importance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis intra-host genetic variability”.

Vanderbilt Tuberculosis Center recently hosted a meeting of researchers involved in our LTBI R01 project “Immunogenetic predictors of active and incipient TB in HIV-negative and -positive close TB contacts” (NIH R01AI147765). The event, which took place between May 31st and June 2nd, included presentations about ongoing research and initial data, working group sessions, and breakout meetings.

Al Leslie, Farina Karim and Lerato Ndlovu, from the Africa Health Research Institute (AHRI) visited VUMC between March 2nd and March 6th, 2020. The VTC partners with the Durban site (AHRI) of the RePORT-South Africa network.