Tuberculosis: Translating Scientific Findings for Clinical and Public Health Impact

Keystone Symposia, Silverthorne CO

Investigators

Abstract

ABSTRACT Support is requested for a Keystone Symposia conference entitled Tuberculosis: Translating Scientific Findings for Clinical and Public Health Impact, organized by Drs. Graeme Meintjes, Eric J. Rubin and Sabine Ehrt. The conference will be held April 15-19, 2018 at Fairmont Chateau in Whistler, British Columbia. It is estimated that one-third of the world?s population is infected with tuberculosis, and each year 10 million people develop disease with 1.5 million tuberculosis-related deaths. Global control efforts using currently available diagnostic, treatment and preventive tools are predicted to achieve only gradual reductions in global tuberculosis incidence. Critical factors impeding tuberculosis control include the ability of Mycobacterium tuberculosis to evade host-killing mechanisms and enter into a phenotypic state of persistence with risk of later reactivation, HIV co-infection which drives progression to disease, the emergence and transmission of drug- resistant strains, and our limited understanding of the immune responses necessary to kill or more effectively contain Mycobacterium tuberculosis and how to elicit these responses with a novel vaccine. Acceleration of progress in TB control requires deeper fundamental insights into the pathogen and pathogen-host interactions, which can then translated into more effective tools at a public health level. Under the theme of translation, this conference will bring together laboratory, clinical and epidemiological tuberculosis researchers to engage the key scientific questions in tuberculosis science including persistence, metabolic adaptation, immune evasion, prediction and early diagnosis of progression to disease, drug resistance, discovery of novel drug targets, and determinants of morbidity and mortality. This will allow for cross-talk between disciplines and triangulation of research findings from epidemiological and clinical studies and laboratory and animal models. This conference will explore what fundamental insights are needed to advance TB control and how fundamental insights can be translated into clinical and public health impact. For the first time, the meeting is held jointly with the Keystone Symposia ?HIV and Co-Infections: Pathogenesis, Inflammation and Persistence,? which will facilitate discussion around HIV and tuberculosis co-infection and explore synergies in the respective fields.