The University of Pittsburgh Center for Vaccine Research (CVR) received a generous $11.4 million research grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to potentially curtail the global tuberculosis epidemic.
The grant has enabled the purchase of new imaging technologies that may shorten and simplify the course of TB treatment. Tuberculosis is a bacterial disease that usually affects the lungs. Called pulmonary TB, the disease is characterized by a persistent cough, shortness of breath, weight loss and chest pain and is deadly if left untreated.
One of the challenges in treating TB and stopping its spread is the length of time it takes to stem the infection. TB treatment takes place over a six-month period at the minimum and often must continue long after the symptoms have faded, which places a burden on patients who are infected, many from the poorest and most disadvantaged countries, says JoAnne Flynn, professor of microbiology and molecular genetics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
“The scanning will allow us to do something no one has ever done before,” explains Flynn. “Our major goal is to improve the ability to test new drugs in a clinical trial and shorten the duration of therapy and allow people to be treated in a more timely way.”
The new CVR research facilities will open in April and will include the hiring of between 15 and 20 researchers and medical technicians “to get it off the ground,” says Flynn. Additional people may be hired during the course of the 2-year study, which includes collaborators at several different universities across the U.S.
Writer: Deb Smit
Source: JoAnne Flynn, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine