#14 Host-Mycobacterium tuberculosis interactions ( Sarah M. Fortune)

Sarah Fortune is a Professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases at the Harvard T.H Chan School of Public Health and Director of the TB Research Program at the Ragon Institute of MGH, Harvard and MIT.

We discuss her research into the interactions between Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the causative agent of tuberculosis (TB) and its human hosts. Specifically, we explore some approaches to explain the variability in infection and treatment outcomes, as Mtb infection remains asymptomatic in 90-95% of individuals but causes severe disease in others. 

We discuss

• How bacterial and hosts determinants contribute to variability of outcomes
• A genome-wide strategy using CRISPR to identify target genes influencing the response to mycobacterial infection in macrophages
• The emerging roles of antibodies in the protection against TB disease
• The potential of technology-driven science in pushing the TB field forward
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Prof Sarah Fortune's lab page: https://sites.sph.harvard.edu/fortune-lab/

Link to the genome-wide screening of host:mycobacterial interactions discussed ( Open Access): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32970993/

STOP TB Partnership : http://www.stoptb.org