A global collaboration of experts in Tuberculosis research
Clear-TB
The CLEAR-TB program includes 4 Projects and 3 Cores with the overarching goals of identifying networks in both the host and the Mtb pathogen that govern these disease states and treatment responses.
Administrative Core
Systems Biology Core
Clinical Core
CLEAR-TB is a global collaboration of experts in the field of Tuberculosis research, working to determine the effects of bacterial and host heterogeneity on the manifestations, progression and consequences of close exposure to TB in the household, and of active TB, and to uncover the immunological mechanisms underlying the diverse clinical outcomes in hosts infected with high and low transmission strains of Mtb (Mycobacterium tuberculosis), towards better and more rapid treatments against this consequential disease.
The CLEAR-TB program includes 4 Projects and 3 Cores with the overarching goals of identifying networks in both the host and the Mtb pathogen that govern these disease states and treatment responses. We also have access to participants and samples from well-characterized clinical TB treatment trials and multi-decade TB household contact studies. Working in the lab and in the clinic, we will combine robust experimental and analytical tools to define mechanisms by which both host and Mtb generate population heterogeneity and drug tolerance and determine how those traits alter clinical outcomes. Through this work we aim to identify relevant host and bacterial networks at both the population and subpopulation level and investigate the adaptive changes which occur during Mtb infection and treatment.
Using state-of-the-art Systems Biology approaches, we will identify discrete types of interactions and network changes that tip the scales of infection either to the bacterium or to the host, as well as investigate fundamental adaptive responses that are shared between these different types of adaptations, and pilot potential therapeutic approaches.
P1
Bacterial and Host Determinants of Progression, Manifestations and Consequences of TB
P2
Immune Determinants of the Course of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Infection and Disease
P3
Minimizing In Vivo Drug Tolerance Induction in Tuberculosis
P4
Drug Tolerance, Bacterial Heterogeneity and Adverse TB Treatment Outcomes
A
B
C
Collaborators
Uganda
Makerere University of College of Health Sciences, Uganda
Brazil
Universidade Federal do Espirito Santo, Brazil
On August 1st, 2014, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) established the TBRU-N – Tuberculosis Research Units Network. The “Network” consists of a consortium of scientists and clinicians from the US and TB-endemic countries dedicated to the elucidation of biomarkers and mechanisms that pose a risk of progression from: 1) Latent TB Infection (LTBI) to active disease; and 2) for those who may relapse after treatment. The Network currently includes four multi-project awards focused on the study of TB latency and persistence in relation to active TB disease in humans. CLEAR-TB is one of the four awards working with the Network.
Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute Of Allergy And Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number U19AI62598. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.