EuroSciCon, Cineworld: The O2, Peninsula Square, London, SE10 0DX, United Kingdom
24th-26th March 2014
DAY 1, Monday 24th March 2014: Prevention Talk times include 5 – 10 minutes for questions
9:00 – 9:45 Registration
9:45 – 10:00 Introduction by the Chair: Dr Derek Sloan, Senior Clinical Academic in Respiratory Medicine, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital, UK
10:00 – 10:30 Tackling TB in the Age of Austerity: ensuring we use novel tools and approaches cost-effectively
Dr Peter J White, (1) Head, Modelling and Economics Unit, Public Health England and (2) School of Public Health, Imperial College London, UK
TB diagnoses in the UK remain high, having risen for two decades, and novel approaches to control are urgently needed. Limited resources mean interventions must be cost-effective, which requires effective targeting of both case-finding and support for treatment adherence. Assessing cost-effectiveness involves considering not just the benefits to individuals who are diagnosed and treated, but also calculation of how much transmission is averted by earlier treatment of active disease, or treatment of latent infection, which prevents active disease from occurring at all. We use mathematical modelling to evaluate novel approaches to finding patients, new diagnostics, and treatment approaches.
10:30 – 11:00 Breaking the transmission of tuberculosis by active case finding
Professor Juraj Ivanyi, Professor of Immunology of Infectious Diseases, Kings College London, Guy's Campus, UK Tuberculosis (TB) infection is transmitted, due to late diagnosis of the most infectious, sputum-positive cases. Delayed reporting of illness symptoms results from their poor perception by vulnerable individuals. To overcome this barrier, active screening of vulnerable populations in selected urban areas with high TB incidence may be beneficial. The most suitable testing would be for specific serum antibody levels or sputum DNA amplification assays, which can detect 80-90% sputum-positive cases. It may be feasible to perform high throughput testing in well-equipped laboratories, located close to high TB incidence areas in large cities. Uptake for screening would need support from community campaigning, to overcome social/ethnic/cultural factors. The various challenging aspects of this approach, which could reduce transmission and ultimately lower the prevalence of TB will be discussed.
11:00 – 11:30 Speakers’ photo then mid-morning break and poster exhibition and trade show
11:30 – 12:00 An unbiased genome-wide Mycobacterium tuberculosis gene-expression approach to discover new antigens for human T cells that are expressed during pulmonary infection
Professor Tom HM Ottenhoff, Professor in Immunology, Leiden University Medical Center, The Netherlands
A prerequisite for candidate vaccine antigens is that they are immunogenic and expressed by Mtb during infection of the primary target organ: the lungs of susceptible individuals. We have used a genome-wide, unbiased antigen discovery approach to investigate the in vivo expression of 2170 Mtb genes during Mtb infection in the lungs of mice. To study the vaccine potential of these proteins, we analyzed their immunogenicity. These in vivo expressed TB antigens (IVE-TB) antigens, expressed during pulmonary infection in vivo, were immunogenic, induced strong (memory) T cell responses in long-term latently Mtb infected individuals and thus may represent attractive antigens for new TB vaccines. IVE antigen discovery approaches can be applied to other infectious diseases.
12:00 – 12:30 Genomic Diversity of Drug-Resistant Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Isolates in Lisbon Portugal: Towards Tuberculosis Genomic Epidemiology
Professor Isabel Portugal, Centro Patogénese Molecular / FFUL, Faculty of Pharmacy, Portugal
12:30 – 13:30 Lunch, poster exhibition and trade show
13:30 – 15:00 Discussion session
This discussion session is an informal question and answer session. This is an ideal opportunity to get advice and opinion from experts in this area. This session is not for questions about specific talks, which can be asked after the speakers session, but for discussing either general topics or specific issues. There are three ways you can ask questions:
1. Before the session you can submit your question to Euroscicon staff at the registration desk,
2. Before and during the session you can submit a question or comments, by email, which will be provided on the day of the event
3. During the session you can put your hand up and join in
15:00 – 15:30 Afternoon Tea, last poster session and trade show
15:30 – 16:00 Reducing transmission in the genomic age
Dr Philip Monk, Public Health England, UK
This presentation will look the use of whole genome sequencing in the investigation and management of TB incidents and clusters. It will update on the use of whole genome sequencing as part of the microbiological investigation of specimens. Drawing on this, new models of service delivery will be suggested to improve the control of TB through better targeting of nursing and utilisation of scarce healthcare resources.
16:00 – 16:30 Neutrophils and B-lymphocytes in experimental TB: from the outcast to competent players Professor Alexander Apt, Professor and Head, Laboratory for Immunogenetics, Central Institute for Tuberculosis, Moscow, Russia
Extremely short life span of neutrophils, rapid replacement of their pool, capacity to engulf and kill different bacteria without obvious cooperation with other cells of the immune system implied the conclusion that these cells have little to do with sophisticated immune responses during chronic TB. Similarly, classical animal studies based upon adoptive transfer of immune lymphocytes and sera tightly linked anti-TB immunity with macrophages activated by T-cells, leaving a very limited role for B-cells. Recent findings dramatically changed these views. A deeper insight in the involvement of neutrophils and B-cells in complex networks of granulomatous inflammation and immune response regulation is displayed in this talk.
16:30 - 17:00 Chairman’s summing up and Close of Meeting DAY 2, Tuesday 25th March 2014: Detection
Talk times include 5 – 10 minutes for questions
9:00 – 9:45 Registration
9:45 – 10:00 Introduction by the Chair: Professor Philip Hill, McAuley Professor and Co-Director, Centre for International Health, New Zealand
10:00 – 10:30 The diagnosis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. Where to from here?
Professor Philip Hill, McAuley Professor of International Health, University of Otago, New Zealand
Elimination of Tuberculosis will require a major new focus on combating latent tuberculosis infection. To facilitate this, a new generation of diagnostic tests would be helpful to narrow down the number of individuals that should be given preventive treatment. Current thinking about host-pathogen interactions, together with new technologies, makes it timely to re-consider new targets for the development of new diagnostic tests. There is good evidence that early clearance of M. tuberculosis by the innate immune system occurs. A profile or bio-signature of early clearance should be identifiable. It is also likely that there is on-going clearance by the adaptive immune system. There is evidence that LTBI manifests in a several different forms. However, this occurs both within and between individuals. There is little evidence that any pathological or biomarker differences observed so far predict likelihood of progression to disease. While physical sub-phenotypes may be problematic, bio-profile ‘phenotypes’ offer some promise. The development of the next generation of diagnostic tests for M. tuberculosis exposure and infection is challenging but could focus on early clearance after exposure to M. tuberculosis and prognostic biomarker profiles.
10:30 – 11:00 Rapid and sensitive phage-based detection of mycobacteria in blood and potential for use as a DIVA test
Dr Catherine E.D. Rees, Associate Professor in Microbiology, School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham, UK Combining the bacteriophage-based FASTPlaqueTB technology with PCR creates a rapid, specific method that detects any slow growing mycobacteria, including human and bovine TB within 48 h. We recently demonstrated the detection of MAP (Johne’s disease) in blood samples from infected cattle before any clinical signs of disease and also in blood from ELISA-negative animals. The method is also applicable to ovine and equine blood samples and we are developing a new assay format for high through-put testing and detection within 5 h. We are also investigating whether this technology can form the basis of a DIVA test for bovine TB.
11:00 – 11:30 Speakers’ photo then mid-morning break and poster exhibition and trade show
11:30 – 12:00 Monitoring host response for TB patient management
Dr Richard M. Anthony, Research coordinator Tuberculosis, The Netherlands
12:00 – 12:30 How Does Lipoarabinomannan (LAM) Enter The Urine; Histological Studies From Uganda Mrs Janneke Cox, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Belgium
12:30 – 13:30 Lunch, poster exhibition and trade show
13:30 – 14:30 Discussion Session
This discussion session is an informal question and answer session. This is an ideal opportunity to get advice and opinion from experts in this area. This session is not for questions about specific talks, which can be asked after the speakers session, but for discussing either general topics or specific issues. There are three ways you can ask questions:
1. Before the session you can submit your question to Euroscicon staff at the registration desk,
2. Before and during the session you can submit a question or comments, by email, which will be provided on the day of the event
3. During the session you can put your hand up and join in
14: 30 – 15:00 Atypical Cases of the Musculoskeletal Tuberculosis: A Dilemma for Diagnosis & Treatment Dr Ashok Kumar, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, Dubai Bone & Joint Center, Mohd Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Academic Medical Center, Dubai Health Carecity, Dubai, UAE
Tuberculosis is as old as mankind. Musculoskeletal tuberculosis is a fairly common form of tuberculosis in the developing world. Atypical musculoskeletal tuberculosis involve unusual sites, mild to severe clinical presentation, confusing laboratory results and unpredictable response to different available anti-tuberculosis drugs regimens. These atypical presentations may lead to delay in diagnosis and treatment. A thorough clinico-radiographic evaluation, combined with histopathological & lab evaluation is essential to establish the early diagnosis and adequate treatment to prevent or minimize the morbidity in such cases.
15:00 – 15:30 Afternoon Tea, last poster session and trade show
15:30 – 16:00 The immunodiagnosis of childhood tuberculosis - old wisdoms and new insights
Dr Marc Tebruegge, National Institute for Health Research Academic Clinical Lecturer in Padiatric Infectious Diseases & Immunology, Academic Unit of Clinical & Experimental Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton and Department of Paediatrics, The University of Melbourne, UK/Australia
The diagnosis of TB in children remains challenging. Microbiological tests have far lower yields in children compared with adults. Existing immunological tests also have important limitations. The tuberculin skin test (TST) has limited specificity, since the test substance (purified protein derivative) represents a heterogeneous mixture of mycobacterial peptides. The performance of interferon-gamma release assays (IGRA), which are based on the use of relatively Mycobacterium tuberculosis-specific antigens (ESAT-6 and CFP-10) as stimulatory antigens, is also considerably less robust in children than in adults. This talk will review published and novel data to elucidate the reasons for the suboptimal performance of IGRA in children, and explore the underlying mechanisms of discordance between TST and IGRA results.
16:00 – 16:30 TB in Camelids - new diagnostic tools
Dr Shelley Rhodes, Immunologist, Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency, UK
There is a growing south American camelid (SAC) industry in Great Britain. They are used for breeding and showing, kept as producers of fibre, as pets, working (trekking) and companion animals. More than half of the national SAC herd are to be found in the south west of Britain where bovine tuberculosis (BTB) is most prevalent. SAC are susceptible to TB. Genotyping of M. bovis isolates from SAC TB breakdowns has largely reflected the pattern of the predominant genotype(s) found in the neighbouring cattle and local wildlife. There is currently no BTB surveillance testing for SAC, and so by the time infection is detected, the pathology can be advanced. The camelid industry itself recognised this problem and, in view of the limited sensitivity of the tuberculin skin test in camelids, funded an a blood test validation project with the AHVLA. As a result, we now have a suite of antibody tests that, whilst not perfect, could detect infected SAC in confirmed BTB breakdown herds and potentially also be used for routine herd surveillance and pre-movement testing. The test validation project has provided tools for the control of TB in camelids, which could limit the spread of this disease within the British camelid population and help mitigate any risk of camelids acting as vectors of M. bovis infection for other animals and humans.
16:30 - 17:00 Serum IP-10 Profile During Early Phase Of Pulmonary Tuberculosis Chemotherapy
Dr Rachel Saunders, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, UK
17:00 Chairman’s summing up and Close of Meeting
DAY 3, Wednesday 26th March 2014: Treatment Talk times include 5 – 10 minutes for questions
9:00 – 9:45 Registration
9:45 – 10:00 Introduction by the Chair: Dr. Sanjib Bhakta, Director of ISMB-Mycobacteria Research Laboratory andUniversity Senior Lecturer, Institute of Structural and Molecular Biology, Birkbeck, University of London and UCL, UK
10:00 – 10:30 A study in persistence: overcoming the barriers to shorter treatment for pulmonary tuberculosis
Dr Derek Sloan, Senior Clinical Academic in Respiratory Medicine, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital, UK
New treatments to cure drug-susceptible pulmonary tuberculosis in less than 6 months are urgently required. Although novel regimensare being assessed in clinical trials, reliable surrogate biomarkers are needed to predict the eventual outcome of therapy from studiesof 2 months duration. Pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic (PK-PD) modelling of the early bacillary elimination rate may help generatethese biomarkers and accelerate drug development. Additionally, fluorescence microscopy can identify sub-populations of M tuberculosis organisms with heterogeneous lipid metabolism; possibly identifying “persister” cells which are difficult to kill and may be associated with treatment failure or relapse.
10:30 – 11:00 Mycobacterium tuberculosis drug discovery using new targets essential for survival inside macrophages
Professor Edith Sim, Professor Emeritus of Pharmacology, University of Oxford, UK
The need for new treatment for tuberculosis is evident from the increase in multi drug resistant TB which is compounded by the long duration of existing drug treatments. The need for a pipeline ofpotential new drugs is related to minimising the subsequent development of strains which are resistant in the future. The difficulty in treating tuberculosis apart from the soioeconomic factrs is the life style of the organism which can survive inside cells. Therefore targetting pathways which are essential for intracellular survival is an important strategy. The work presented in this talk will focus on a group of proteins encoded by a gene cluster which is essential for survival inside macrophage and where gene deletion and chemical inhibition have been demonstrated to have similar effects on the survival of mycobacteria.
11:00 – 11:30 Speakers’ photo then mid-morning break and poster exhibition and trade show
11:30 – 12:00 How to improve the results of the therapy for urogenital tuberculosis
Professor Ekaterina Kulchavenya, Principal researcher, Head of Urogenital Dpt, Novosibirsk Research TB Institute, Medical University, The Russian Federation
Urogenital Tuberculosis (UGTB) is complicated by bladder tuberculosis (TB) in more than half of cases; late diagnosis and/or absence of pathogenetic therapy leads to the development of shrinked bladder up to full its obliteration. Standard therapy presented poor results: in 57.9% developed complications: posttuberculous cystalgia (36.8%) and microcystis (21.1%). Modified etiopathogenetic therapy, included trospium chloride, increases frequency of recurrence twice and allows avoiding of developing of microcystis at all.
12:00 – 12:30 ORAL PRESENTATIONS:
12:00 – 12:15 PLANT-DERIVED COMPOUNDS A SOURCE OF ANTI-MYCOBACTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS AGENTS
M. R. Camacho-Corona, E. Garza-González, J.M.J. Favela-Hernández, P.C. Esquivel-Ferriño, N.E.Sandoval-Montemayor, A.F. Clemente-Soto, A. García, I. Balderas-Rentería, V. M. Rivas-Galindo, L. Alvarez, M. Y. Ríos
Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León. Av. Universidad s/n, Ciudad Universitaria, SanNicolás de los Garza, Nuevo León CP 66451. México. Email: maria.camachocn@uanl.edu.mx
12:15 – 12:30 THE MANAGEMENT OF TUBERCULOSIS IN CHILDREN BY PAEDIATRICIANS IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR,IN MUMBAI, INDIA
C.K. Tauro, N. Gawde.
Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India ck.tauro@gmail.com
12:30 – 13:30 Lunch, poster exhibition and trade show
13:30 – 14:30 Discussion Session
This discussion session is an informal question and answer session. This is an ideal opportunity to get advice and opinion fromexperts in this area. This session is not for questions about specific talks, which can be asked after the speakers session, but fordiscussing either general topics or specific issues. There are three ways you can ask questions:
1. Before the session you can submit your question to Euroscicon staff at the registration desk,
2. Before and during the session you can submit a question or comments, by email, which will be provided on the day of the event
3. During the session you can put your hand up and join in
14: 30 – 15:00 Clinico-radiological response of TB abscesses in children treated with Thalidomide
Dr Ronald van Toorn, Consultant, Stellenbosch University, South Africa
Tuberculosis abscesses are known to develop or enlarge despite appropriate anti-TB treatment. This phenomenon, the result of immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS), is often more severe in the setting of HIV co-infection and may be life threatening. TB abscesses are notoriously resistant to therapy and require total surgical excision for cure. In our experience, TB abscesses often respond to thalidomide, a potent tumour necrosis alpha-inhibitor. Aim: To describe the clinico-radiological response of TB abscesses in 16 consecutive children treated with thalidomide.
15:00 – 15:30 Afternoon Tea, last poster session and trade show
15:30 – 16:00 Improving outcome of TB meningitis; intensified antibiotic treatment and better adjuvant therapy
Dr Reinout Van Crevel, MD, PhD, Associate Professor in International Health, Radboud Univeristy Medical Centre Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Intensified antibiotic treatment may improve outcome of TB meningitis. Rifampicin, key to successful treatment of TB meningitis, poorly penetrates the CSF and may be underdosed. Fluoroquinolones may be beneficial because of their high antimycobacterial potency and good CSF penetration. We recently evaluated high-dose rifampicin and moxifloxacin in a phase 2 trial in TB meningitis patients in Indonesia.(1) Immunomodulation may be another way forward. Adjunctive corticosteroids lower mortality, but neurological disability is not affected. Exciting new insights in the role of pro- and anti-inflammatory eicosanoids in TB meningitis may lead to alternative adjunctive treatment for which studies are now being prepared. (1) Ruslami et al, Lancet Infectious Diseases 2013;13:27-35.
16:00 – 16:30 Tuberculosis Therapy under anti-TNF agents
Dr Tomoshige Matsumoto, Director of Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Osaka Anti-Tuberculosis Association Osaka Hospital, Japan
Although several TNF inhibitors are used for the treatment of moderate-to-severe active rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a substantial number of serious adverse events occur including reactivation of latent tuberculosis (TB) infection. Currently, the American College of Rheumatology recommends that treatment with biologics can be resumed after completion of the anti-TB treatment, while the British Society of Rheumatology suggests that patients on anti-TNF therapy should receive full anti-tuberculosis chemotherapy, but may continue with anti-TNF therapy if clinically indicated. This discrepancy is due to the limited availability of evidence. We previously reported one successful case in which administration of anti-TB medications followed by re-treatment with infliximab could control RA disease activity without exacerbation of TB. Subsequent studies have also reported favorable outcomes for RA patients with TB treated with re-administration of anti-TNF biologics. We will show our experiences concerning anti-TNF inhibitors and TB therapy, including how to prevent paradoxical response from developing.
16:30 - 17:00 Chairman’s summing up and Close of Meeting
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Invited Speakers:
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DAY 1, Monday 24th March: About the Chair
Derek Sloan has worked in high and low income countries, accruing extensive experience in the management of tuberculosis and HIV. After spending time in Kenya, South Africa and Malawi he currently lives in Liverpool. He continues to engage in clinical and academic activities with a global perspective and his research has been funded by the Wellcome Trust. His work focusses on the clinical pharmacology of anti-TB drugs, the metabolic behaviour of TB bacilli under drug pressure and PK-PD modeling of patient responses to anti-TB chemotherapy.
About the Speakers
Peter White is a member of the UK government's Scientific Pandemic Influenza advisory committee modelling sub-group (SPI-M), and during the 2009 pandemic he led real-time modelling to advise government, and contributed to ECDC and WHO modelling working groups. He led health economic modelling work contributing to recent NICE guidance on TB in hard-to-reach groups, performed an evaluation of the London TB Find and Treat Service for the Department of Health, and has ongoing work in TB funded by NIHR. He is leading modelling work funded by the Technology Strategy Board developing a user-friendly tool for planning chlamydia testing services.
Juraj Ivanyi obtained his MD and PhD degrees in Prague. He worked in basic immunology (1961-1980), before focusing on the immunobiology of tuberculosis. At the Wellcome Research Laboratories (1969-1984) his team was first in raising TB monoclonal antibodies, leading to become Director of the MRC Tuberculosis and Related Infections Unit (1984-1997) at the Hammersmith Hospital. Engaging in both experimental models and clinical aspects, his Unit pioneered the mapping of antigen epitopes and immunodiagnosis. He served on committees of WHO (IMMLEP chairman) and BSI (International Secretary). As honorary professor at Guys Hospital since 1998, worked on the passive immunotherapy of TB. He published 258 research papers and 60 reviews/chapters.
Tom HM Ottenhoff is a Professor in Immunology 2001-present at LUMC/Univ Leiden. He has been a visiting Professor at Stanford Univ. April-August 2008, Associate professor at LUMC 1993-2001 (LUMC), Visiting Professor at NIH. 1991-1993, Huygens Fellow 1989-1993 (LUMC), Senior Scientist at Armauer Hansen Research Inst 1986-1988 and carried out his PhD research training at LUMC 1982-1986.
Philip Monk has worked in Public Health for the last 20 years. During that time he has gained extensive experience in the control of TB and has lately being working with the Oxford University based research team led by Professor Derrick Crook on the use of whole genome sequencing to improve the control of TB. He is leading the development of the Public Health England strategy to implement whole genome sequencing into TB diagnosis.
Alex Apt graduated from Lomonosov Moscow State University in 1973 and joint TB community about 35 years ago after initial training in the MHC immunogenetics. He heads the Laboratory for Immunogenetics at the Central Institute for Tuberculosis, Moscow, since 1998. The main activity of his lab includes application of mouse TB models to identification of genes involved in TB control, gene expression analyses, lung tissue pathology and immune cell interactions. The models developed in the lab are also used for vaccine and drug testing. DAY 2, Tuesday 25th March: About the Chair
Philip Hill is the first holder of the McAuley Chair of International Health, was the Foundation Director of the Centre for International Health (2008-2012) at the University of Otago, New Zealand and is now co-Director of the Centre. Professor Hill holds separate qualifications as a medical practitioner (MB ChB), specialist public health physician (FAFPHM), specialist infectious diseases physician (FRACP), as well as a doctorate in the epidemiology of tuberculosis in The Gambia, West Africa (MD). After completing specialty training in Auckland, New Zealand, he spent six years working as a clinical epidemiologist for the MRC Laboratories in The Gambia. While there he led the tuberculosis research group. He now has formal collaborations in tuberculosis research also with the University of Padjadjaran and European and Canadian partners in Indonesia. He supervises postgraduate students on projects in several other countries around the world. Prof Hill has been a lead or co-investigator on grants worth more than $20 million since 2001, including three Gates Foundation grants, MRC(UK) grants, European Commission/Union grants, DFID (UK) grants, and Global Fund grants. His tuberculosis research interests include studies of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection and disease, with a focus on tuberculosis case contact studies in developing countries.
About the Speakers
Cath Rees is currently Associate Professor in the Microbiology and Food Safety group at Nottingham University. Originally she studied Biochemistry at Oxford, followed by PhD in Genetics at Leicester University and has since used her training in bacterial genetics to study various aspects of applied microbiology. She moved to Nottingham in 1989 to develop recombinant phage-based methods of detection of Listeria and now also studies the biology and genetics of this organism. Her research group works on a variety of projects involving phage, from development of rapid phage-based tests to the development of novel phage-based vaccines.
Ashok Kumar graduated from University College of Medical Sciences, Delhi in 1996. He completed his postgraduate training in Orthopedics from All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi (2004). He did his fellowship in Trauma & Orthopedics from Katharnein Hospital, Germany and in Joint replacement from Exeter Hip Center, U.K. He passed his MRCS, Glasgow, U. K in 2009. He has published more than 25 papers in various indexed international Orthopedics journals. He is currently working as a Consultant Orthopedic Surgeon at Dubai Bone and Joint Center. His area of interest includes, Pediatric Orthopedics, hip/knee replacement & Trauma, Oncology.
Marc Tebruegge trained in Paediatrics and Paediatric Infectious Diseases, at a number of renowned UK hospitals, including King’s College Hospital, St. Mary’s Hospital London and Great Ormond Street Hospital. Between 2007-2011 he undertook a PhD focusing on the immunodiagnosis of tuberculosis in children at the University of Melbourne. He returned to the UK in 2011 to take up his current position as NIHR Academic Clinical Lecturer in Paediatric Infectious Diseases & Immunology at the University of Southampton. To date he has authored more than 60 publications in peer-reviewed journals and 8 book chapters, which includes chapters in the RCPCH Manual of Childhood Infections and the reference textbook Principles and Practice of Pediatric Infectious Diseases. He also serves on the Editorial Board of several journals, including the Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal (ESPID Reviews and Reports section) and PLoS ONE.
Shelley Rhodes (PhD, Imperial College, London), has been part of the TB Research Team at the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency for 15 years, investigating aspects of immunity of cattle to infection with Mycobacterium bovis. For the past 5 years she has also been the project manager and test consultant for national bovine TB interferon-gamma testing in Great Britain. With an increased interest in diagnostics, she has in addition been involved in the testing of new cattle serological TB tests, TB diagnostic tests for domestic cats, one of which is now commercially available, and more recently the validation of TB tests for south American camelids. DAY 3, Wednesday 26th March: About the Chair
Sanjib Bhakta is the Director of ISMB-Mycobacteria Research Laboratory at the Institute of Structural and Molecular Biology, Birkbeck, University of London & UCL. His continued research interest (funded by UK-Medical Research Council, Wellcome Trust and EU Research Fund) is focused on developing novel therapeutics to tackle persistence and drug resistance in tuberculosis (XDR-TB, a global health emergency). He has published original research articles for a number of internationally acclaimed journals. Following a BSc (Hons), an MSc and a PhD in Molecular Microbiology & Biochemistry from world class universities and research Institutions in India, Dr Bhakta joined the Oxford University Department of Pharmacology in 2001 as an ISIS innovation Senior Research Scholar and shortly after he was awarded with a Wellcome Trust International Travelling Fellowship. He graduated from The Queen’s College, University of Oxford in 2005 completing a second doctoral degree (DPhil) and received a “Sir William Paton Prize” for the best graduate research presentation in Pharmacology. In 2006 he attained his first academic appointment at Birkbeck, University of London as a University Lecturer to lead his TB drug discovery research and research led teaching on antimicrobials. He became a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, UK after achieving a post graduate certificate in Teaching and Life Long Learning in Higher Education (PGCHE) from the University of London in 2008. He is a core member of Tuberculosis Drug Discovery-UK, the Institute of Structural and Molecular Biology, NIMR/Birkbeck/UCL and an affiliated academic Fellow of the Centre for Infection, Immunity and Disease mechanism, Brunel University. He is a member of a number of international societies and Editorial Board Member of peer reviewed international journals. Sanjib held Visiting Faculty posts at several recognized universities and research institutes in India and actively engaged as an Honorary Consultant for National TB Research at the Indian Development Foundation. He is a STEM-Ambassador on a UK research council funded project and a “Scientist in Residence” at the St Mary’s School in Buckinghamshire. He was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine in 2008 and recognised as a Chartered Microbiologist in the UK. He hosted World TB Day events at University of London since 2010 and chaired the EuroSciCon conference “Can we beat…Mycobacterium tuberculosis” in 2013.
About the Speakers
Derek Sloan has worked in high and low income countries, accruing extensive experience in the management of tuberculosis and HIV. After spending time in Kenya, South Africa and Malawi he currently lives in Liverpool. He continues to engage in clinical and academic activities with a global perspective and his research has been funded by the Wellcome Trust. His work focusses on the clinical pharmacology of anti-TB drugs, the metabolic behaviour of TB bacilli under drug pressure and PK-PD modeling of patient responses to anti-TB chemotherapy.
Edith Sim studied Biochemistry in Edinburgh and obtained her doctorate in Oxford. She worked in Grenoble on membrane proteins in bacteria as a Royal Society Research Fellow before returning to Oxford as a junior lecturer where she ran a reserach group mainly funded by the Wellcome Trust. She became Head of the Department of Pharmacology has also served as the Director of the Medical Sciences Division Training Group including post-graduate training programmes. She has published extensively on subjects at the interface between chemistry and protein science in the field of tuberculosis. She has supervised many graduate students and one of her students, Anna Upton, is now Director of Reserach at the TB Global Alliance. Edith Sim is a member of the ACid Fast Club and is currently the Dean of the Faculty of Science Engineering and Computing at Kingston University, Kingston-on-Thames where her reserach team are based. She is a Reserach Fellow at St Peter's College Oxford and an honorary member of the Pharmacology Department, Oxford University.
Ekaterina Kulchavenya has completed her PhD at the age of 28 years from Moscow Research TB Institute; from 2002 she is professor. Now she is a principal researcher of Novosibirsk Research TB Institute and professor of Novosibirsk Medical University. She has published more than 55 papers in reputed journals and 8 monographs and she is an author of chapters on urogenital TB in Russian National Guideline on Urology and in International Consultation on Urological Diseases.She is an author of many new patented techniques, allowed significantly improves the therapy for extrapulmonary tuberculosis as well as prostate and bladder diseases.
Tomoshige Matsumoto is a physician, and the Director of the Department of Clinical Diagnositc Laboratory at Osaka Anti-Tuberculosis Association Osaka Hospital, Japan and co-editor in chief of the Journal of Infectious Diseases and Therapeutics. He is as well Advisor for molecular epidemiology of tuberculosis and especially tuberculosis infection under biologics therapy. His education and career have been made in Osaka, Japan. He at first engaged a molecular cloning and characterization of SOCS-1/SSI-1/CIS, negative feed back regulator of cytokin signaling in cells, under the excellent teaching of Dr. Tetsuji Naka and Dr. Tadamitsu Kishimoto. They proposed the existance of negative feed back regulation system in cells (nature) and characterized the SOCS-1 (pnas). Then, his career has been a clinical application of cytokine signaling for various diseases. He has engaged in developing anti-IL6 receptor therapy, biologic therapy, for castleman disease(blood) and rheumatoid arthritis, which is now available as actemura(R). Then his career has been shifted to the infection therapies especially tuberculosis under the biologics. He has firstly showed a successful anti-TNF treatment for rheumatoid arthritis in a patient with tuberculosis(NEJM). He experienced more than 20 anti-TNF therapies in patients with tuberculosis.
Ronald van Toorn is a South African pediatric neurologist wiith an interest in neuroinfectious diseases, especially TB meningitis. The title of his PHD (near completion) is "Childhood tuberculosis meningitis: challenging current management strategies".
Reinout van Crevel, a Dutch infectious disease specialist, has led a patient-oriented research program on TB in Indonesia, integrating basic sciences, clinical research and public health for more than 10 years. He also set up a program on prevention and care of HIV in the context of injecting drug use in Indonesia. These collaborative research acitivities have a strong aspect of academic capacity building and improving patient services. One of his main topics of interests is TB meningitis and pharmacokinetic aspects of TB treatment.
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