
In this week’s interview, we discuss with Dr. Tawanda Gumbo his recently published paper that puts forth evidence that nonadherence may not be the prime reason for the emergence of drug resistance in TB, his research interests and background, the recent debate on the role of efflux pumps in drug tolerance and his research to optimize TB drugs. Additional links to TB R&D news are included.
This week we interview Dr. Yossef Av-Gay and discuss his recently published paper, his contribution to TB drug discovery and the focus of his research. Dr. Av-Gay, a professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of British Columbia, recently published a paper in PNAS that provides evidence to that points to a specific protein that allows Mtb to bypass the body’s defenses. Additional TB R&D news links are included.
Microbial geneticist Dr. Gyanu Lamichhane of the Johns Hopkins Center for Tuberculosis Research is one of 49 recipients of the New Innovator Award, which is given to promising scientists in the early stages of their careers and is supported directly with $1.5 million in research funding over five years. In this interview, we discuss the award and the related research that lead to the award, as well as, Dr. Lamichhane’s motivation to work with TB. Additional links to TB R&D news are included.
This week’s interview is with Dr. Sanjib Bhkata who is Head of Mycobacteria Research Laboratory, Microbiology, Department of Biological Sciences, Institute of Structural and Molecular Biology at the Birbeck University of London. Dr. Bhakta’s Laboratory has developed an innovative method for screening compounds that is more efficient and just as accurate as more widely used methods. Additional links to TB R&D news are included.
This week’s interview is with Dr. Armand Van Deun who was the recipient of the 2010 Stop TB Partnership-Kochon Foundation prize. Last year, Dr. Van Deun, et al., published an article in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine entitled “Short, highly effective, and inexpensive standardized treatment of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis”. In the interview, we discuss this article which presents the results of an observational study in Bangladesh of a treatment for multidrug-resistant TB that incorporates fourth-generation fluoroquinolone combined with other second-line drugs and supplemented by potentially still active first-line drugs. Additional links to TB R&D News are included.
This week, we feature an interview with Dr. Edward Nardell who is a pulmonologist with a special interest in tuberculosis. His principal academic appointment is as associate professor of medicine, Harvard Medical School. In 2002 he joined Partners In Health as Director of Tuberculosis Research. During the interview, we discuss with Dr. Nardell his background and interest in TB, the Airbourne Infections Research (AIR) Facility, his thoughts on the MDR-TB epidemic, and his current research focus. Additional links to TB R&D News are included.
In this week”s TB R&D update, The WGND had the opportunity to talk with Dr. Bourne on a recent article published in PLoS Computational Biology in November 2010. Dr. Philip Bourne is a professor at University of California, San Diego, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Editor in Chief of PL0S Computational Biology. In the interview, Dr. Bourne discusses his present research, use of structural bioinformatics to inform drug discovery, and the need for open access in research. Also, links to additional news in TB R&D are included.