GCRI, Max Planck Florida Institute to host discussion on TB at German House New York

The German Center for Research and Innovation (GCRI), in cooperation with the Max Planck Florida Institute, will host a discussion on the treatments and challenges of tuberculosis on Thursday, March 31, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. The event will take place at the German House New York (871 United Nations Plaza, First Avenue, btw. 48th & 49th Streets).

Tuberculosis, along with HIV/AIDS, is one of today's deadliest threats. Killing one person every 20 seconds, 10 million new cases of active TB develop each year worldwide, of which one quarter are fatal. While treatments are available, numbers of multi-drug resistant infections are on the rise. What are the challenges researchers face in developing a cure? What advances are being made, and how will they impact the developed and developing world? Join highly cited immunologist Prof. Stefan H.E. Kaufmann (Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology) and Robert Koch Award recipient Dr. Carl Nathan (Weill Cornell Medical College) for answers to these questions and insight into the global state of immunobiology. Prof. Kaufmann, who is the founding director and director of the Department of Immunobiology of the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology in Berlin, is also the president of the International Union of Immunological Societies (IUIS). His scientific interests include immunity to bacterial pathogens with an emphasis on tuberculosis and rational vaccine design. Dr. Nathan's current research focuses on the biochemical basis of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis strain's resistance to treatment. He is the R.A. Rees Pritchett Professor and chairman of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York. Dr. Ann Ginsberg, Chief Medical Officer of the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development (TB Alliance), a not-for-profit product development partnership focused on the discovery and development of improved treatments for TB and ensuring their affordability for patients around the world, will moderate.