Networking

Networking

Existing networks and linkages
Both nodes of the CBTBR are involved in vast and complex collaborative networks that involve TB researchers and research institutions in a large number of countries. Maintaining existing collaborative networks and developing new linkages is of critical importance to the CBTBR. For this reason, members continued to devote significant time and effort to networking.

The staff and students in the CBTBR have collaboration with so many individuals that we have chosen not to attempt to name them all. However, they come from many different countries, and sometimes multiple institutions from a given country, examples being: Sweden, Norway, Germany, France, Netherlands, Italy, UK (ICL, UCL, Oxford), USA (Harvard, University of North Carolina), Guadaloupe, Tunisia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania, Mexico, Canada. Within South Africa, we also have many different collaborations within our own institutions as well as with other universities and former technikons. The extent of networking is reflected in the many multi-author publications produced during the past year (see below). SU node Team Members also serve as advanced degree (co)-supervisors for post-graduate students in other institutions within the country, such as Wits, Cape Peninsula University of Technology and University of the North, as well as for other departments at MRC (Promec) and SU.

Networking is regarded as extremely important, and thus, as many individuals as possible are supported to attend conferences and meetings and travel to other locations for collaborative work. Our interaction with major stakeholders such as MRC and NRF is also outlined in some respects elsewhere, but ranges from serving as grant reviewers to serving on panels and committees. We have also had extensive interactions with numerous clinicians and nursing staff in state institutions, as well as in private practice. In addition, we serve as a reference facility for some health problems and have been invited as speakers by DoH to a number of meetings. Furthermore, we have had extensive interaction with the TB Control Programme officers, particularly in the Western Cape, and have helped them contain MDR-TB outbreaks. Good contact is maintained with other stakeholders, such as the Wellcome Trust, EDCTP, IAEA and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, quite apart from collaborators.

NAME	INSTITUTION	NATURE/ PURPOSE, OUTPUTS AND FUTURE DIRECTION OF COLLABORATION
Prof. John D. McKinney	École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland	New collaboration on carbon metabolism in mycobacteria, with specific emphasis on the mechanisms of propionate catabolism. Co-author on a manuscript submitted for publication in 2007, and co-PI on a grant application submitted together with Prof. Mizrahi and Dr. Warner to the Swiss National Science Foundation for funding under the Swiss/ SA Bilateral Research Program. This collaboration will provide access of MMRU researchers to training and use in time-lapse video microscopy for single-cell studies in M. tuberculosis and as such, is of considerable strategic importance to the MMRU
Dr. Clifton E. Barry III and Dr. Helena Boshoff	Tuberculosis Research Section, Laboratory of Host Defenses, National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases, NIH, Rockville, MD	Ongoing collaboration in various areas on M. tuberculosis physiology and metabolism, including DNA metabolism and vitamin B12 metabolism. Collaborating members of the “IM TB” Consortium funded through SBRI
Prof. Gilla Kaplan	Public Health Research Institute, International Center for Public Health, Newark, NJ	Ongoing collaboration in the area of in vivo phenotyping of mutant strains of M. tuberculosis. Profs Kaplan & Mizrahi Jointly run the TB Basic Sciences component of the CU-SA Fogarty AITRP. Has hosted three Fogarty trainee fellows from the MMRU in her laboratory
Dr. Deborah Hung	Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Boston, USA	Collaborating member of the “IM TB” Consortium funded through the SBRI. Also collaborating on the characterization of Rpf-deficient mutants of M. tuberculosis
Dr. Galina Mukamolova	University of Leicester, UK	New collaboration on the function of Rpf proteins in M. tuberculosis
Prof. Eric Rubin	Microbiology and Immunology, Harvard Medical School, USA	Collaborating member of the “IM TB” Consortium funded through SBRI
Prof. David Sherman	Seattle Biomedical Research Institute, USA	PI of the “IM TB” Consortium funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Prof. Mike Young	Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Wales, Aberystwyth, UK	Ongoing collaboration on the function of Rpf proteins in mycobacteria
Prof. Arseny Kaprelyants & Dr. S. Biketov	Russian Academy of Sciences, Bakh Institute for Biochemistry, Moscow, Russia	Ongoing collaboration on the collaboration of function Rpf proteins in mycobacteria
Prof. James Sacchettini	Biochemistry and Biophysics, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX	Collaborating member of the “IM TB” Consortium funded through the SBRI
Prof. Sir Tom Blundell and Prof. Chris Abell	Cambridge University, UK	Collaborating members of the “IM TB” Consortium funded through the SBRI
Prof. Jean Content	Institut Pasteur Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium	Collaboration on genome duplication in M. smegmatis resulted in co-authored publication in 2006
Dr. Chris Sassetti	University of Massachusetts, USA	Collaborating member of the “IM TB” Consortium funded through the SBRI
Prof. Tanya Parish	Barts and the London, UK & Infectious Diseases Research Institute (IDRI), Seattle, USA	Ongoing collaboration on conditional gene knockout methodology. Collaborating member of the “IM TB” Consortium funded through the SBRI
Dr. Marcia Firmani	Clinical Laboratory Sciences, Louisiana State University Medical School, New Orleans, USA	Ongoing collaboration on phenotyping of mutant strains of M. tuberculosis
Dr. Sabine Ehrt & Dr. Dirk Schnappinger	Weill Medical College, Cornell University, New York	Ongoing collaboration on phenotyping of respiratory mutant strains of M. tuberculosis
Dr. Amita Gupta	University of New Delhi, South Campus, India	Newly established collaboration on the regulation of expression of toxin-antitoxin modules in M. tuberculosis
Dr. Vickery Arcus	AgResearch, University of Waikato, New Zealand	Newly established collaboration on the role of VapBC toxin-antitoxin modules in the physiology of M. tuberculosis
Dr. S. Sampson	Imperial College, UK	The evolution and function of the PE and PPE gene families (2001 - present) & The ESAT-6 secretion system interactome (2007- present)
Dr. H. Mardassi, Mr. A. Karboul and Mr. A. Namouchi	Institut Pasteur, Tunisia	Characterization of Mtb lineages through the PE/PPE gene family (2002 - present)
Dr. W. Bitter and Mr A. Abdallah	Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands	The trafficking of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis PE and PPE proteins (2006 - present)
Dr. E. Tortoli	Italy	Identification of novel species of the genus Mycobacterium (2006 - present)
Dr. C. Miller	Utah, USA	Identification of ESAT-6 gene cluster regions on genomic and plasmid DNA in PAH-degrading mycobacteria (2006- present)
Dr. J. Ho	Cornell University, New York, USA	Characterization of Mtb lineages through the PE/PPE gene family (2007 - present)
Dr. R. Brousseau	Institut de Recherche en Biotechnologie, Canada	Characterization of Mtb lineages through the PE/PPE gene family (2006 - present)
Prof. J. Ho, Dr. A. Gibson and Prof. R. Huard	Cornell University, New York, USA	Characterization of LAM evolutionary history (2007-present)
Dr. H. Mardassi	Institut Pasteur de Tunis, Tunisia	Characterisation of LAM evolutionary history (2007-present)
Prof. A. Steyn	University of Alabama, Birmingham, USA	The ESAT-6 secretion system interactome (2007- present)
Prof. Dr. VPMG Rutten, Dr. I. van Rhijn, Dr. A.P. Koets	Utrecht University	Non-tuberculous mycobacteria in wildlife (WOTRO Integrated program proposal) (2007)
Prof. Erwin Schurr	McGill University, Montreal, Canada	Genetic epidemiology. Poster outputs; papers expected 2008
Prof. Laurent Abel & Alexandre Alcais	INSERM / Université Paris 5, France	Analysis of genetic epidemiology. Poster outputs; papers expected 2008
IDr. Iris Grossman	GlaxoSmithKline, NC, USA	Genetic susceptibility to TB
Dr. Ingileif Jonsdottir	deCODE, Iceland	Genetic susceptibility to TB
Dr. Lluis Quintana-Murci	Institut Pasteur, Paris, France	Genetic susceptibility to TB and population structure.
Prof .Megan Murray	Harvard / Broad institute	Various projects (eg) : evolution of XDR-TB strains other mechanisms of drug resistance (other mechanisms in addition to genomic mutations) mechanisms of resistance to 2nd line drugs strain fitness Certain strain families may have both increased fitness and increased potential for acquiring drug resistance All these projects involve Whole genome sequencing, Proteomics, microarray etc and she is directly involved in a variety of other activities in our group such as project planning, paper writing, funding proposals (NIH and welcome trust)
Dr. Judit Nagy	Imperial collage London	Proteomics of large clusters (more transmitted) vs small clusters (less transmitted) in the same strain family after other criteria to select isolates have been taken into consideration. The aim is to identify proteins that are differentially expressed in the same strain family which may give them an advantage to transmit better than others
Dr. Hernandez Pando Rogelio	National University of Mexico	Test different drug resistant strains (MDR / XDR) in a mouse model for strain fitness/virulence . The isolates are the same as described above and will compliment the data obtained by molecular investigations
Prof. Kathy Eisenach	Arkansas, USA	Mechanisms of Strain fitness in an in vitro THP-1 cell line model. Project is in planning phase.
Prof. Stefan Kaufmann	Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, Berlin, Germany	Collaborators on Bill & Melinda Foundation Gates-funded project
Prof. Henry Boom	Cleveland, Ohio, US	Collaborators on Bill & Melinda Foundation Gates-funded project
Prof. Hazel Dockrell	London School for Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK	Collaborators on Bill & Melinda Foundation Gates-funded project, Co-applicants on grant application to Bill & Melinda Foundation Gates
Dr. Mark Doherty	Statens Serum Institute, Kopenhagen, Denmark	Collaborators on Bill & Melinda Foundation Gates-funded project, collaborators on NIH-sponsored study
Dr. Martin Ota	MRC, The Gambia	Collaborators on Bill & Melinda Foundation Gates-funded project
Prof. Harriet Mayanja	Makarere University, Uganda	Collaborators on Bill & Melinda Foundation Gates-funded project
Prof. Ronnie Anderson & Dr. Caroline Cholo	MRC/ UP Unit on Inflammation and Immunity, University of Pretoria	Collaboration on the role of potassium transport in mode of action of anti-tubercular action of riminophenazines
Profs. Jannie Hofmeyr & Jannie Snoep	Triple J Group for Molecular Cell Physiology, Department of Biochemistry, University of Stellenbosch	Collaboration on metabolic flux analysis in mycobacteria
Prof N. Beyers, Dr A. Hesseling, Dr S. Tonkin and Prof B. Marais	Stellenbosch University	Nontuberculous Mycobacteria (NTM) - Prevalence and Clinical relevance in HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected children (2006 - present)
Mr. V. Schillack	Ampath	Identification of novel species of the genus Mycobacterium (2006 - present)
Dr. T. Botha	CPUT	The prevalence of airborne Mycobacterium tuberculosis and non-tuberculous mycobacteria in epidemic tuberculosis areas in South Africa (2006 - present)
Prof. R. Wilkinson, Dr. G. Chege and Prof. A.-L. Williamson	UCT	Natural infection with Mycobacterium intracellulare in healthy wild-caught chacma baboons (2006 - 2007)
Dr. A. Michel	Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute	Bovine tuberculosis in African buffalo: Observations regarding Mycobacterium bovis shedding into drinking water and exposure to environmental mycobacteria (2006 - 2007)
Prof. N. Beyers, Dr. M. Claassens and Ms. C. Kruger	Stellenbosch University	Identification of Mycobacterium goodii in a prevalence survey (2007 - present)
Dr. A. Michel, J. Godfroid, K. Coetzer and N. Kriek	Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute	Non-tuberculous mycobacteria in wildlife (WOTRO Integrated program proposal) (2007 - present)
Prof. L. Dicks	Microbiology, Stellenbosch	Bacteriocins as a possible method to treat M.tuberculosis infection (2007-present). One publication accepted in J. Appl. Microbiol. 2007.
Prof. S. Mehtar	Unit for Infection Control, Tygerberg Hospital	The anti microbial activity of copper and copper alloys against nosocomial pathogens and Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolated from healthcare facilities in the Western Cape– an in-vitro study. One publication accepted in J. Hosp. Inf. 2007.
Prof. Himla Soodyall	MRC Human Genome Diversity and Disease Research Unit	Investigation of local populations – no outputs
Ms. Marlein Bosman	NHLS , Green point	Collaborator on all our projects – provide routine samples
Dr. Sias May	TB Control program in Suidkaap / Lawwaaikamp	TB Control strategy
Dr. Danie Theron	Eben donges hosp , worcester	New project on DOTS program on farms
Dr. Alistair Calver	Gold Mine in Northern province	Ongoing, outbreak of drug resistance in a setting with a good control program
Prof. Willem Hanekom	IIDMM, UCT	Sharing of technology (multicolour FACS, Luminex machine), sharing of samples, manuscript accepted for publication
Prof. Frank Brombacher	IIDMM, UCT	Sharing of expertise (murine helminth models)
Mrs. Lungi Kwitshana	MRC, Durban	Collaboration in project on worm-HIV co-infection

Conference and Workshop Organisation

Organisation and chairing of the Gordon Research Conference on Tuberculosis Drug Development, Magdalen College, Oxford, 26-31 August 2007
Prof. Mizrahi chaired the 2007 Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on Tuberculosis Drug Development, which was held at Magdalen College, Oxford, from 26-31 August, 2007. This GRC brought together 153 research scientists from many countries around the world and was the fourth such conference in this series. The varied mix of participants from academia and industry included established scientists and clinicians as well as postdoctoral fellows and postgraduate students representing disciplines that ranged from medicinal chemistry, TB biology, microbial physiology, enzymology and structural biology to pre-clinical and clinical drug development. Other members of the CBTBR who attended the conference and presented posters on their research included Drs. Bavesh Kana and Garth Abrahams (Wits), and Dr. Andreas Diacon and Mr. Nchinya Bapela (Stellenbosch). Two members of the Board of the CBTBR, Dr. Ken Duncan and Prof. Peter Donald, also attended the conference. Details of the conference can be found at: http://www.grc.org /programs.aspx ?year=2007&program=tuberc

WOTRO Grant Proposal Workshop
Two workshops were held at Tygerberg and in Pretoria with representatives from Stellenbosch University, Utrecht University, University of Pretoria, and Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute. A grant proposal was submitted jointly by these groups to WOTRO, the funding body of NWO- Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research. WOTRO received over 60 applications, and along with 10 other proposals. The South African/ Dutch collaboration was chosen to enter the final round of selection, from which 6 projects will be funded. To ensure the submissions are of high quality WOTRO finances a three day workshop so that all interested parties can meet to discuss the final application. The workshop was held in January at Intundla Lodge, near Pretoria for the South African and Dutch participants along with interested stakeholders. The proposal details a project which covers a number of disciplines from veterinary science, immunology, genetics, microbiology and molecular biology and will require the collaboration of these universities to investigate mycobacteria in buffalo, cattle and their environments. The meeting was a great success and a final proposal with workplan was agreed upon and was submitted. All applicants left the workshop encouraged and pleased to have had an opportunity to interact with each other and have already made plans for further collaborations. Participants at the workshop included Victor Rutten, Adrian Koets and Ildiko van Rhijn from Utrecht University, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine; Jacques Godfroid, Jacobus Coetzer, Nick Kriek and Darshana Morar from University of Pretoria, Faculty of Veterinary Science; Anita Michel from Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute, and Paul van Helden, Eileen Hoal-van Helden, Nico Gey van Pittius and Chantal Babb from the SU node of the CBTBR. Sadly, this proposal was not funded, but the consortium will in all probability continue to seek funding.

CBTBR researchers participate in Canadian/South African Research Program Planning Meeting held in Cape Town from January 31 to February 2, 2007, in Vancouver, Canada in March and again in October
A three day meeting was held to initiate discussions for a collaborative research program between investigators in Cape Town and Vancouver (Canada), all of whom are eager to better understand factors which enhance susceptibility to M. tuberculosis infection in children. The immediate goal is to improve the health of children in the immediate study area and then to extrapolate the findings to a broader population throughout the developing and developed world. All seven of the collaborators finished the meeting with an extraordinarily high level of enthusiasm for the proposed research project. It was agreed that all would work together to make this vision a reality, with the project driven from South Africa under the stewardship of David Speert and the 2-3 junior clinician-scientists who will ultimately drive the research initiative. The site will be at a place in South Africa which is deemed appropriate by the investigators. Participants at the meeting included Tobias Kollmann, David Scheifele and David Speert from the University of British Columbia, B.C.’s Children’s Hospital, Centre for Understanding and Preventing Infection in Children, BC Research Institute and Vaccine Evaluation Centre; Willem Hanekom and Gregory Hussey from the University of Cape Town and Institute for Infectious Diseases and Molecular Medicine, Cape Town; Nulda Beyers from the SU Desmond Tutu Centre, and Paul van Helden from the Desmond Tutu Centre and SU node of the CBTBR. This meeting was followed by further meetings in Vancouver in March and again in October. Canadian funding was obtained for an intensive workshop in October and three South African colleagues were sent. This has led to a preliminary plan. The Canadian PI will come to SA in approximately March for 2-3 months to develop the plan and begin grant-writing.

NRF Swedish-SA Initiative
Three visitors from Sweden, Stevan Svenson, Gunilla Kallenius and Tuija Koivula were visiting the SU node as part of a NRF Swedish-SA Initiative. Specifically, Prof. Svenson has developed some interesting new rapid TB diagnostics with funding from the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND), which researchers in the CBTBR wish to test locally. Prof. Kallenius and Dr. Koivula will be co-supervising some TB studies in Mozambique together with members of the CBTBR, with funding from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency.

Joint symposium
In October 2007, Prof G Walzl and Dr. Gillian Black were the co-hosts of the Annual meeting of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation sponsored GC6-74 project, which was held in Cape Town during October. Top researchers from the US, UK, The Netherlands, Denmark and Germany attended the meeting, together with leading African partners from The Gambia, Malawi, Ethiopia and Uganda. Approximately 100 people attended the meeting and several attendees visited the CBTBR and the project field sites that are part of the CBTBR research activities. Invited guests who addressed the meeting included Dr Ivan Thoms of the Department of Health of the City of Cape Town. Prior to the meeting a workshop on Luminex technology was held at the CBTBR which was attended by US, UK, German and African delegates.

Networking

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