Vanderbilt TB Center News

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.

On Monday, February 19, 2018, Paul Farmer, M.D., Ph.D., of Partners in Health (PIH), spent the day at Vanderbilt lecturing and meeting with faculty, staff and students. Members of the Division of Infectious Diseases were fortunate enough to meet with Dr. Farmer in a small group setting, discussing our current global projects as well as fellows and residents research. It was great to hear his perspectives on our ongoing work and inspiring to meet with such a leader in the field of global health.

This article was published in the Research News @ Vanderbilt online blog.
 
 Original publication: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29334197
 
 "When they occur among people living with HIV, certain cancers and opportunistic infections are considered by health authorities as AIDS-defining events, or ADEs.

Thanks to all who braved the cold temperatures to join our January TB Center Meeting on Wednesday, January 17th!

Results from the iAdhere trial conducted through the TB Trials Consortium have been published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. This randomized trial aimed to compare treatment completion and safety of once-weekly isoniazid and rifapentine by self-administration versus direct observation. Enrollment sites were located in the US, Spain, Hong Kong, and South Africa; Vanderbilt and the Metro Nashville Health Department participated in enrollment.