The Center for Global Infectious Disease Research focuses on developing diagnostic tools and vaccines for some of the world’s most devastating infectious diseases including: tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and leishmaniasis. This work builds on Forsyth’s internationally recognized efforts to fight the most common infectious diseases known to humankind, periodontal (gum) disease and dental decay.
Integration of Forsyth’s outstanding scientific infrastructure in oral health research with investigations in global life-threatening infections offers a unique opportunity for breakthrough discoveries. The Center builds on this expertise and synergistically complements Forsyth’s mission to improve human health through innovative research, community care and education in oral and related biomedical science.
The Center’s diagnostic development program is pursuing the creation of a rapid test for the identification of people with active tuberculosis (TB). This point-of-care test will be useful in both urban medical settings and in remote/rural areas where there is no access to sophisticated equipment or in some cases even to electricity.
Tuberculosis is a leading cause of death, with 9 million new active cases and 1.7 million people dying each year worldwide, mainly because diagnosis occurs too late. Co-infection with HIV is fueling TB epidemics in many countries and multi-drug resistant TB strains are a growing threat. Recent studies conducted by the World Health Organization suggest that an improved diagnostic test for active TB could reduce mortality by as many as 625,000 lives per year.
The Forsyth team is working on the development of an antigen detection assay for the diagnosis of TB based on a single urine sample. This approach, which is similar to the urine pregnancy test, has several benefits including its ability to be utilized anywhere at low cost in a non-invasive fashion.
The Center’s future directions in diagnostics research include developing similar tools and assays for other global infectious diseases such as AIDS and Leishmaniasis.
cine Development
The Center for Global Infectious Disease Research is also heavily focused in vaccine development to TB, AIDS, and Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL). Similar to TB, and despite the development of anti-HIV drugs that slow the disease, AIDS remains as major threat to mankind. According to estimates by WHO and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), at the end of 2008, 33.4 million people were living with HIV. Some 2.7 million became newly-infected, and 2.0 million died of AIDS, including 280 000 children. Leishmaniasis, particularly VL is a parasitic disease with a global prevalence of 12 million cases and annual incidence of 1.5-2.0 million new cases. If untreated VL is in most cases fatal.
The initial goal of the Center’s vaccine research program is to develop and test in animal models potentially efficacious vaccines against these diseases. The Center scientists use unique approaches to discover vaccine candidate antigens, in particular focusing on state-of-the-art technology to pinpoint microbial molecules that are abundantly produced in vivo during the disease. These molecules are then produced in vitro and used in animals to test their efficacy as vaccines. Recently, using this technology the Center has successfully identified several candidate molecules for vaccine development to TB and VL. This same approach is being used to identify AIDS vaccine candidates.
The Center’s vaccine research program takes advantage of Forsyth’s outstanding scientific infrastructure in oral health research, which creates a unique environment to study mechanisms of mucosal (oral and nasal) delivery of vaccines. This environment constitutes a tremendous asset for the Center because it provides an ideal place to develop and implement efficacious vaccines that induce mucosal immunity, which is an essential condition for protection against diseases like tuberculosis and AIDS. Importantly, orally delivered vaccines are easy to distribute, cost-effective and more socially acceptable than injected vaccines.
STAFF
Antonio Campos-Neto, MD, PhD, Center Director
Mark Cayabyab, PhD
Suely S. Kashino, PhD
Kelly Kanunfre, PhD
Palanivel Velupillai, PhD
