Grant: Operating Grant

Tuberculosis (TB) is primarily an illness of the respiratory system, and is spread by coughing and sneezing. TB is currently a global health problem of monumental proportions: each year about 8 million new cases of TB develop and about 3 million people die of the disease. The TB pandemic continues in spite of increased attention to the disease globally, the expansion of therapeutic regimes, and the widespread use of an existing vaccine. TB is now a leading cause of death in the developing world. More than 90% of TB cases and deaths occur in low/middle income countries comprising 76% of the world's population. The recent increase of TB in developing countries has been exacerbated by many causes including pandemic HIV, war and political instability, drug resistance, and increasing poverty. Moreover, if multi-drug resistant TB increases, TB could become even more difficult to control throughout the world. BCG (Bacille Calmette-Guerin), developed in the early 1900s, is the vaccine used against TB today. However, the high incidence of TB in developing countries where BCG immunization is widely practiced indicates that BCG is not highly efficacious over the many years that people are at risk for contracting the disease. Clearly a better vaccine against TB is urgently needed. In this respect, the objective of our research is to manipulate molecular interactions between the vaccine BCG and the immune system cells with a special focus on how to induce these cells to develop efficient TB immunity. The results expected will significantly advance our understanding of host interactions with the BCG vaccine and will open avenue for testing a novel protective anti-TB vaccine.