Tuberculosis News and Research

Latest Tuberculosis News and Research

Third of world carrying TB; Disease could become incurable without action, WHO warns

"A third of the world's population is carrying tuberculosis [TB], and the disease could become incurable if governments fail to act, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned," noting that a "lack of funding for public health programs, the sale of inaccurate blood tests and the misuse of drugs, particularly in the private health sector, are hampering the fight against the disease and leading to drug resistance," the Independent reports.

15 May 2012

U.S. investment in global health has been successful, deserves continued congressional support

"Over the next few weeks, appropriators will be engaged in the challenging task of evaluating U.S. foreign assistance funding, including how effectively Congress' global health investments are being used," Charles Lyons, president and CEO of the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation; Molly Joel Coye, interim president and CEO of PATH; Carolyn Miles, president and CEO of Save the Children; and Richard Stearns, president of World Vision, write in this Roll Call opinion piece.

11 May 2012

MSF says additional resources needed to improve ART access in Burma

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), the largest provider of antiretroviral treatment (ART) in Burma, also known as Myanmar, are calling for the gap between the need for and access to ART in the country to be closed, the Guardian reports.

11 May 2012

USAID launches five-year initiative in Nigeria to strengthen HIV, TB services

U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria Terence McCulley on Tuesday in Abuja, Nigeria, launched a five-year, $224 million USAID program, titled Strengthening Integrated Delivery of HIV/AIDS Services (SIDHAS), that aims to "increase access to high-quality comprehensive HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis prevention, treatment, care and related services through improved efficiencies in service delivery," the Daily Trust reports.

10 May 2012

Researchers use clever screening methods to speed vaccine production

Infectious diseases-both old and new-continue to exact a devastating toll, causing some 13 million fatalities per year around the world. Vaccines remain the best line of defense against deadly pathogens and now Kathryn Sykes and Stephen Johnston, researchers at Arizona State University's Biodesign Institute, along with co-author Michael McGuire from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center are using clever functional screening methods to attempt to speed new vaccines into production that are both safer and more potent.

10 May 2012

IDRI, Aeras partner to develop new TB vaccine candidate

Aeras and the Infectious Disease Research Institute (IDRI) announce today a new agreement to conduct joint development activities with respect to IDRI's novel tuberculosis vaccine candidate. This collaboration reflects the missions of the two non-profit product development partnerships to use cutting-edge science to develop products that address critical diseases of underserved populations around the world, including tuberculosis.

10 May 2012

MSU researcher wins Grand Challenges Explorations grant for work on TB

For his work on developing new treatments for tuberculosis, a Michigan State University researcher has been named a Grand Challenges Explorations winner, an initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

10 May 2012

VOA News examines South Africa's rural public health sector

VOA News features a five-part series on South Africa's rural public health sector, which the news service writes is "plagued by a high burden of infectious diseases, severe doctor and nurse shortages, lack of medicines and essential medical equipment and incompetent management," resulting in high patient death rates.

8 May 2012

Various combinations of biomarkers are required to unequivocally diagnose specific disease

With a range of diseases, doctors need unique features which they can use to unequivocally identify a patient's illness for an appropriate diagnosis. Scientists therefore search for the biomarkers for an illness or a combination of biomarkers, known as biosignatures, which are as easy as possible to measure.

7 May 2012

Johns Hopkins receives $15 million NIH grant to establish CFAR

Johns Hopkins University has been awarded $15 million over the next five years from the National Institutes of Health to establish the new Center for AIDS Research (CFAR). CFAR will support more than 180 HIV investigators from the University's Bloomberg School of Public Health, the School of Medicine, the School of Nursing and other schools. A major priority for CFAR will be to address Baltimore's HIV epidemic in addition to training new investigators and conducting international research.

5 May 2012

Global Fund completes reorganization of workforce, tightens focus to 20 'high-impact countries'

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria "is cutting its workforce and tightening its focus on 20 countries hardest hit by AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria," Reuters reports. Gabriel Jaramillo, who took over as general manager of the fund in January, "said in a statement that the fund had completed a reorganization that would rebalance its workforce with 39 percent more people managing grants and 38 percent fewer in support roles," the news service notes.

3 May 2012

SC formulation of Genentech’s ACTEMRA shows promise against RA

Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, today announced that the SUMMACTA study met its primary endpoint, showing comparable efficacy (non-inferiority) of the subcutaneous (SC) formulation of ACTEMRA (tocilizumab) 162mg weekly compared to 8 mg/kg ACTEMRA intravenous (IV) formulation every four weeks.

3 May 2012

Without sustained investment in malaria fight, world faces resurgence of disease

"If we needed more evidence that the funding cuts at the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria were going to be detrimental to people's lives, a new study ... makes it clear: Providing funding to fight malaria makes malaria go away," Kolleen Bouchane, director of ACTION, a global partnership of health advocacy organizations, writes in the Huffington Post's "Impact" blog.

30 Apr 2012

UCLA develops compact and cost-effective RDT-reading device

In the fight against emerging public health threats, early diagnosis of infectious diseases is crucial. And in poor and remote areas of the globe where conventional medical tools like microscopes and cytometers are unavailable, rapid diagnostic tests, or RDTs, are helping to make disease screening quicker and simpler.

30 Apr 2012

CityBusters battle illness on public transit

The best place to enjoy a breath of fresh air may be a city bus, if Rice University students have their way. A team of graduating seniors has created a system for public transit that would continually clear the air of pathogens that can lead to tuberculosis (TB), flu and pneumonia.

30 Apr 2012

Five U.S. federal agencies provide significant contributions each year to global health R&D

A new report that the United States government is the largest funder of global health research and development (R&D) in the world, investing $12.7 billion over the past 10 years in the creation of new vaccines, drugs, diagnostics, and other products for neglected diseases of the developing world. That funding, according to the report, helped lead to the development of more than half of the 45 new health products in the last decade that have been used to save lives around the world.

30 Apr 2012

IOM releases summary of workshop on drug-resistant TB in India

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) on Friday released a summary of a joint workshop by the Institute of Medicine, the Indian National Science Academy, and the Indian Council of Medical Research, titled, "Facing the Reality of Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis: Challenges and Potential Solutions in India."

27 Apr 2012

Global Fund Deputy GM says organization 'not in crisis' at roundtable discussion

"Although coming off a rocky year in 2011, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is 'not in crisis,'" Inter Press Service reports, referring to comments made by the organization's deputy general manager, Debrework Zewdie, at a roundtable hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations on Wednesday. Zewdie noted the resumption of commitments to the fund from bilateral donors, despite the international economic crisis and last year's allegations of mismanagement, the news service adds.

27 Apr 2012

Opinion pieces examine malaria fight in recognition of World Malaria Day

Wednesday, April 25, marked World Malaria Day, which this year had the theme "Sustain Gains, Save Lives: Invest in Malaria." The following opinion pieces address the fight against malaria.

27 Apr 2012

Blog continues coverage of International Treatment as Prevention conference in Vancouver

The Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog continued its coverage of the 2nd International Treatment as Prevention Workshop in Vancouver.

27 Apr 2012

Tuberculosis News and Research

Latest Tuberculosis News and Research

Third of world carrying TB; Disease could become incurable without action, WHO warns

U.S. investment in global health has been successful, deserves continued congressional support

MSF says additional resources needed to improve ART access in Burma

USAID launches five-year initiative in Nigeria to strengthen HIV, TB services

Researchers use clever screening methods to speed vaccine production

IDRI, Aeras partner to develop new TB vaccine candidate

MSU researcher wins Grand Challenges Explorations grant for work on TB

VOA News examines South Africa's rural public health sector

Various combinations of biomarkers are required to unequivocally diagnose specific disease

Johns Hopkins receives $15 million NIH grant to establish CFAR

Global Fund completes reorganization of workforce, tightens focus to 20 'high-impact countries'

SC formulation of Genentech’s ACTEMRA shows promise against RA

Without sustained investment in malaria fight, world faces resurgence of disease

UCLA develops compact and cost-effective RDT-reading device

CityBusters battle illness on public transit

Five U.S. federal agencies provide significant contributions each year to global health R&D

IOM releases summary of workshop on drug-resistant TB in India

Global Fund Deputy GM says organization 'not in crisis' at roundtable discussion

Opinion pieces examine malaria fight in recognition of World Malaria Day

Blog continues coverage of International Treatment as Prevention conference in Vancouver

Synthetic Biology and the Pursuit of Living Diagnostics

Modular, Scalable, Intelligent: How n6 Is Rethinking NGS Library Prep

Evolving spectrophotometry for modern biopharma workflows

Tuberculosis News and Research

Latest Tuberculosis News and Research

Synthetic Biology and the Pursuit of Living Diagnostics

Modular, Scalable, Intelligent: How n6 Is Rethinking NGS Library Prep

Evolving spectrophotometry for modern biopharma workflows

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