This symposium brings together basic and translational scientists studying all aspects of TB. It also features innovators developing new vaccines and therapies, as well as clinicians who regularly treat patients with TB.
“TB is one of the world’s oldest diseases that still claims more than 1.5 million lives every year,” says Texas Biomed Professor Jordi B. Torrelles, PhD, and symposium co-host. “In the U.S., Texas has one of the highest incidence rates of TB. That is why it is so important to convene researchers and doctors from across Texas, so we can share our most recent discoveries in the lab and the field.”
The two-day conference will feature experts in immunology, microbiology, biochemistry, cell biology, vaccines and therapies, animal models, co-infections, as well as clinical treatment and diagnosis. Speakers hail from UT Southwestern Medical Center, UT Tyler Health Science Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston Methodist, UT Medical Branch, UT El Paso, Texas Tech University Health Science Center El Paso, UT Health Houston at Brownsville, Texas A&M, Heartland National TB Center, UT Health San Antonio, Southwest National Primate Research Center and Texas Biomed.
Representatives from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases will open the conference and Dr. Christopher M. Sassetti, Professor of Microbiology and Physiological Systems at the University of Massachusetts Chan School of Medicine, will give the closing keynote lecture.
“We are pleased to welcome experts from across the state and nation to exchange ideas, build collaborations and share what a powerful combination of resources we have to study TB here at Texas Biomed,” says Texas Biomed Professor Deepak Kaushal, PhD, and symposium co-host.
Texas Biomed recently was named one of the nation’s premiere training centers for TB researchers. The Interdisciplinary NexGen TB Research Advancement Center, better known as IN-TRAC, will provide “bench to bedside” training for up-and-coming TB researchers.
“San Antonio provides unparalleled access to research and expertise in this field, with the only free-standing TB hospital in the nation, and study sites at the Texas-Mexico border with people living into old age with TB,” says Texas Biomed Executive Vice President for Research Joanne Turner, PhD. “The region is truly one of the most diverse and dynamic places to study TB.”
The symposium will feature more than 40 talks, including 3-minute lightning talks, many of them by early career investigators, as well as poster presentations and tours.