BATS Symposium is hosted by UC TRAC and chaired by Drs. Babak Javid (UCSF) and Sarah Stanley (UC Berkeley). The 2023 Planning Committee included Drs. Javid and Stanley, with Drs. Bennett Penn (UC Davis), Purvesh Khatri (Stanford), Devan Jaganath (UCSF), and Barbara Alonso (UCSF CTB).

The Center for Tuberculosis is pleased to announce the Fall 2023 pilot awards, co-funded by UC TRAC and TB RAMP. The Resource Allocation Program (RAP) pilot awards in TB research are mentoring and training grants eligible to UCSF and UC Berkeley Early Stage Investigators in TB research. Awarded applicants are auto-enrolled in TB RAMP.

Team Science in TB Research | $80,000

Under-Represented Scientist in TB Research | $40,000

Mentored Scientist in TB Research & Mentored | $40,000

Payam Nahid, MD, MPH

Leadership in TB Research

Payam Nahid was appointed to Strategic and Technical Advisory Group for Tuberculosis (STAG-TB) serving the World Health Organization. As a member of STAG-TB, Dr. Nahid will provide scientific and technical guidance to WHO.

Joel Ernst, MD

Recent Grants in TB Research

Joel Ernst and team were recently awarded a grant of $4.3M over five years from NIAID for a project entitled, “Functionally distinct human CD4 T cell responses to novel evolutionarily selected M. tuberculosis antigens.”

Gustavo Velásquez, MD, MPH

John Szomowski, MD

Leadership in TB Research

Gustavo Velásquez and John Szumowski were named Fellows by the Infectious Diseases Society of America, recognizing Drs. Velásquez and Szumowski as distinguished physicians and scientists who have achieved professional excellence and provided significant service.

John Metcalfe, MD, PhD, MPH

Recent Grants in TB Research

John Metcalfe and team were recently awarded a grant of $3.7M over five years from NIAID for a project entitled, “A novel cartridge-based sequencing solution for decentralized M. tuberculosis resistance detection.”

SMART4TB Announces BREACH-TB

At the UN High-Level Meeting on TB last week, the SMART4TB consortium announced BREACH-TB (Bedaquiline Roll-Out Evidence in TB Contacts and People Living with HIV to Prevent Tuberculosis), which will be a groundbreaking trial of a one-month regimen to prevent all forms of tuberculosis is set to launch soon. BREACH-TB will be the first study to evaluate bedaquiline, a game changing TB treatment drug, as a shorter, safer regimen for TB prevention.

SAVE THE DATE

SMART4TB at The Union TB Conference

SMART4TB Consortium Meeting at Union TB

November 14, 2023 | Time TBD (~5pm CET)

Location: TBA (Paris)

SMART4TB Cocktail Hour to Follow

Open to other UCSF, JHU, TAG, KNCV, and EGPAF colleagues

Calendar invitations will be sent to SMART4TB Leads, Investigators, and their teams.

Please contact Sarah Hutch if you are not involved with SMART4TB but would like details for the cocktail hour.

The SMART4TB Project Coordinator will oversee administrative and operational activities associated with multi-national TB therapeutic and diagnostic trials and the research consortium.

The UCSF Center for Tuberculosis Finance Analyst will facilitate the central financial operations of budget and reporting for UCSF under the SMART4TB consortium.

The Javid Lab seeks an SRA II to work as part of a research team investigating antibiotic tolerance and resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

The Ernst Lab seeks an SRA III to investigate mechanisms of immunity to Mycobacterium tuberculosis using a newly-developed biomimetic human granuloma culture model.

The UCSF Curry International Tuberculosis Center Director of Education will oversee the Center’s training and educational programs. The Director of Education also assists in long-range program planning and program management.

Talks & Events at

The Union TB Conference

Submit your talk, event, or highlight for the UCSF CTB's Union TB Guide by October 22 to Barbara Alonso: barbara.alonso@ucsf.edu

Highlights & Recognition

Send recent awards, grants, recognitions, or upcoming programs and events to the Center for Tuberculosis for our monthly CTB/UC TRAC newsletter. The newsletter is released in the last days of each month (excluding July and Dec).

Email Sarah Hutch: sarah.hutchinson@ucsf.edu

World Health Summit

October 15-17 | Berlin, Germany

World Health Summit

The Union + TB Science

November 15-18 | Paris

The Union

View the full working draft of 2023 TB-related conferences list. Link only available to UCSF Center for Tuberculosis-affiliated faculty and staff. Please email Barbara Alonso for recommendations or edits.

If you have news to share, please contact the Center for Tuberculosis Manager, Sarah K Hutch.