By Jada Turner //
Hood College broght together experts in infectious disease and vaccine development on March 26 to discuss the biology, treatment and ongoing challenges of tuberculosis
The event, part of Frederick Speaker Series, included a 50-minute documentary screening followed by a panel discussion with Dr. Todd Black, senior director for biology at TB Alliance; Dr. Deepak Kaushal, director of the Southwest National Primate Research Center at Texas Biomedical Research Institute; and Mark Chee, assistant professor of biology at Hood.
The program explored current research efforts and global health strategies to combat tuberculosis, one of the world’s deadliest infectious diseases.
Black,described his organization’s mission and approach to drug development.
“We are a nonprofit organization, and we kind of cover the end-to-end of both discovering new drugs,” Black said, emphasizing the group’s focus on accessibility rather than profit.
He explained that the TB Alliance works with academic and industry partners to develop treatments that can be distributed globally, especially in low- and middle-income countries.
Black highlighted the development of the BPaL regimen, a combination therapy for drug-resistant tuberculosis.
“This really is becoming now the first-line treatment for drug-resistant TB,” he said.
Despite advances, he noted that treatment duration remains a challenge. Current therapies can still require months of medication.
“Six months even is still a very long time and a high pill burden for people to be dealing with,” Black said.
Kaushal, discussed tuberculosis vaccine development and limitations of the current vaccine, Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG).
“BCG is ineffective, at least in some, if not all populations,” Kaushal said.
He noted that BCG has been widely used for decades but does not provide strong protection in adolescents or adults. However, he emphasized that progress in vaccine research is accelerating.
“There has never been a time like this in TB vaccine development,” Kaushal said, pointing to multiple candidates currently in clinical trials.
Kaushal also described new approaches to vaccine design, including recombinant and genetically modified strains aimed at strengthening the immune response.
Chee, who hosted the event, guides the discussion and moderates audience questions on topics including diagnostics, immune response and global TB efforts. He also provided context for the panel and the broader goals of the event.
Panelists explained that tuberculosis remains a complex disease due to its ability to exist in a latent state and reactivate under certain conditions.
The event concluded with a discussion of ongoing research efforts and the global goal of reducing and eventually eliminating tuberculosis through improved treatments, diagnostics and vaccines.
##
Be the first to comment