This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Boston Medical Center receives grant to identify TB biomarkers
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Boston Medical Center has received a $3 million NIH grant to lead an international collaborative investigation into identifying tuberculosis biomarkers, according to a recent press release.
The grant is part of the International Collaborations in Infectious Disease Research, an NIH program that supports research into tropical diseases. The Clinical Diagnostics Research Consortium has also contributed resources to the project.
Jerrold J. Ellner, MD, chief of the section of infectious diseases at Boston Medical Center and professor of medicine at the Boston University School of Medicine, will head the group in a 5-year effort. Participating institutions include the Federal University D’Espirito Santo in Vitoria, Brazil, and the University of Medicine and Dentistry, Newark, N.J.
Ellner has been collaborating with clinicians from University D’Espirito Santo since 1994.
The researchers will use a discovery-based approach to examine the changes in the expression of TB, based on the time of infection, diagnosis and treatment. They will look at the entire human genome to determine gene expression factors associated with the infection. Specifically, an examination of immunity and susceptibility to TB will be conducted.
The research will take place in Brazil. Study populations will include, primarily, those with potentially high exposure to Mycobacterium tuberculosis, such as health care workers, and close relations of those with a positive TB diagnosis.
 |
Follow InfectiousDiseaseNews.com on Twitter. |