Medical student Yohannes Teshale (third from right) with the GHC team and Gail Cassell (third from left). Yohannes, a medical student from Gondar (Ethiopia) who had to interrupt his studies due to Multidrug-resistant TB (MDR), spoke at the conference giving a personal perspective of having MDR for 4 years with no hope of treatment. Gail Cassell, Vice President of Infectious Diseases, Eli Lilly and Company, gave an update on the global MDR problem.

Tuberculosis (TB) is the most common cause of death among people with AIDS, and the AIDS epidemic is the driving force behind the resurgence of TB in poor countries. Traditionally, the two diseases have been considered apart, with each attracting its own researchers, specialists, and clinics. Now, an upcoming gathering of tuberculosis and HIV researchers and clinicians planned for Arusha, Tanzania signals a new recognition in the scientific community that separately attacking one or the other disease will not be enough to stem the twin epidemic.

With more than 300 attendees from all over the world, the conference is the first to bring leading TB and AIDS researchers together at this scale, says GHC cofounder Anne Goldfeld of Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA. “The participants and our sponsors recognize that TB and AIDS are inextricably linked, and that we have to work together at all levels to discover fundamental knowledge and new treatment strategies that are so desperately needed around the world.” Among the participants will be researchers and clinicians from many African nations and developing countries around the world.

The conference, organized by Goldfeld and Stefan H.E. Kaufmann, of the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology-Berlin, Germany, will feature thirty-four lectures from leading scientists and physicians on topics ranging from fundamental questions of pathogen biology and the human immune response, to the clinical challenges of delivering HIV and TB care in resource-poor settings. Poster sessions and informal meetings will allow attendees to share the latest research and newest ideas in both HIV and TB research.

Goldfeld will speak about her unique approach as a physician-scientist studying fundamental immune responses by observing the natural history of HIV and TB co-infection. GHC executive director Sok Thim will describe the group’s approach to care including the groundbreaking CAMELIA clinical trial and new initiatives on MDR TB, in his talk, “Grassroots Solutions to Deliver and Scale Up TB and AIDS Care.”

Photojournalist James Nachtwey is scheduled to give a special presentation of his recent work documenting the impact of HIV and TB around the world, including images of GHC projects. Nobel Prize-winner and immunologist David Baltimore of California Institute of Technology will deliver a keynote speech. Other featured speakers include Professor David Mwakyusa, the Tanzanian Minister of Health and Tachi Yamada, Scientific Director of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The Gates Foundation is sponsoring the meeting, with additional support from AstraZeneca India Pvt Ltd and the United States National Institutes of Health. It is part of a series on global health backed by the Gates Foundation and run by the independent nonprofit organization Keystone Symposia.  

For more information, see:

Overcoming the Crisis of TB and AIDS
Part of the Keystone Symposia Global Health Series, Supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Organizers: Anne E. Goldfeld and Stefan H.E. Kaufmann
October 20 - 25, 2009 • Arusha International Conference Centre
Arusha, Tanzania
http://www.keystonesymposia.org/Meetings/ViewMeetings.cfm?MeetingID=1022