Grant: Operating Grant

Infectious diseases are a major, re-emerging health problem, accounting for 33% of the world mortality (17 million/year). Mycobacterial infections continue to be a serious health threat, causing tuberculosis in otherwise healthy individuals, and causing disseminated infections in immuno-suppressed patients. The host defense mechanisms against these infections, including the anti-mycobacterial effector functions of macrophages and parameters of protective immunity, need to be better understood. Such host defense mechanisms can manifest themselves as genetic determinants of innate resistance or susceptibility to infections in human populations, and in corresponding animal models. The identification and characterization of the genes involved will not only enable a better understanding of infection pathogenesis and host response to it, but may also identify novel targets for drug discovery and pharmacological interventions in these infections.