The Tuberculosis Research Unit at Case Western Reserve University's School of Medicine has received a $28 million contract from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, one of the National Institutes of Health.
The grant is the largest award in the school's history. It surpasses the original $19 million grant which established the TBRU in 1994. The unit is the only one of its kind supported by the NIH.
"We are very excited to be able to continue this important project, which is directed at combating the world-wide tuberculosis epidemic," said W. Henry Boom, director of the TBRU and associate professor of medicine at the CWRU School of Medicine and University Hospitals of Cleveland.
Boom took over for Jerrold Ellner, who created the TBRU and was its first director until this fall, when he became director of the Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. Ellner will continue to be involved with the project.
Boom research focuses on the body's immune response to tuberculosis and other infectious diseases. He has been with the CWRU School of Medicine since 1988.
"Emerging infections, such as TB and especially antibiotic resistant TB, are devastating diseases in many parts of the world and are a top research priority at the School of Medicine," said Nathan Berger, dean of CWRU's School of Medicine and vice president for medical affairs. "Dr. Boom and his colleagues are to be congratulated for carrying on this vital project that is searching for discoveries to alleviate the burden of TB."
CWRU will work with seven basic science sites and three clinical sites as part of the project. The basic science sites are the Albert Einstein College of Medicine (New York); University of Arkansas; Imperial College School of Medicine (London); University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (Newark); University of Pittsburgh; Stanford University (Palo Alto, California); and Statens Serum Institute (Copenhagen).
The clinical sites are associated with the University of California at San Francisco, Universidade Federal do Espirito Santo (Vitoria, Brazil), and Makerere University (Kampala, Uganda).
The unit's goals are to evaluate new drugs, vaccines, and other methods for prevention and treatment, and to develop better diagnostic tests for tuberculosis. Scientists now can take advantage of advances in microbiology and immunology to build a medical arsenal against the disease.
"The TBRU has evolved into an internationally recognized force. Its strong suit is a truly interdisciplinary approach with broad input from the best minds in TB research and control. I believe that the TBRU will impact on the central tenets of TB control," said Ellner.
Around the world, 1.7 billion people are infected with TB, and annually 8 million people develop new active cases and 3 million die. The disease is the leading cause of death due to an identifiable infectious agent and the main cause of preventable death in the most productive years of life, ages 15 to 40.
CWRU has been a leader in TB studies for more than 35 years.