AFC Winter 2011

Held at St George’s University of London

January 7th 2011

Scientific Programme

Session 1

Tandem duplications of large genomic islands in Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis associated with human strains isolated from patients with Crohn’s disease
Tim Bull, Richard Linedale, Wojtek Michalski, James Wynne. Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Division of Clinical Sciences, St George’s, University of London

Functional analysis of the serine-threonine protein kinase, PknF, and its substrate the ABC transporter Rv1747, in Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Vicky L. Spivey, Virginie Molle, Rachael H. Whalan, Angela Rodgers, Apoorva Bhatt, Lasse Stach, Elizabeth M. Hirst, Gurdyal S. Besra, K. Barry Walker, Stephen J. Smerdon, Roger S. Buxton. MRC National Institute for Medical Research

Identification of biomarkers of treatment response in blood by transcriptomic analysis
Jackie Cliff, Ji-Sook Lee, Nicholas Constantinou, Jang-Eun Cho, Taane Clark, Katharina Ronacher, Paul van Helden, Gerhard Walzl, Hazel Dockrell. Department of Immunology and Infection, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

Gene products HsaD and HsaC in cholesterol metabolism of Mycobacterium tuberculosis
M. Abdul Aziz, N. Lack, R. Ballet, V. Cheng, N. Laurieri, S. Keany, A. Ryan, & E. Sim. Department of Pharmacology, University of Oxford

Lung heparin targeted vaccine delivery of mycobacterial antigens
Elena Stylianou, Ilaria Pepponi, Craig van Dolleweerd, Julian Ma and Rajko Reljic Division of Clinical Sciences, St George’s, University of London

Session 2

Immunological responses following BCG vaccination and Mycobacterium bovis challenge in the Eurasian badger
Roland Ashford, Sandrine Lesellier, Si Palmer, Sonya Gowtage, Deanna Dalley, Dipesh Dave, Laura Chamberlain, Benjamin Grundy, R.Glyn Hewinson, Brian Catchpole, Frank E. Aldwell, and Mark Chambers. Veterinary Laboratories Agency

Mycobacterium tuberculosis acg in the hspX gene cassette is required for growth and virulence in vivo
Yanmin Hu and Anthony R. M. Coates. Centre of Infection and Immunity, Division of Clinical Sciences, St George’s University of London

Identification of novel non-tuberculous mycobacterial antigens
A Checkley, D Wyllie, I Satti, T Scriba, H Fletcher, A Hill, W Hanekom, H McShane. Jenner Vaccine Institute, Oxford University

Analysis of M. tuberculosis strains from the North London isoniazid resistant outbreak shows independent evolution of drug resistance
R.J. Shorten, A. McGregor, S.H. Gillespie, C. Jenkins, S. Platt and T.D. McHugh. Department of Medical Microbiology, Royal Free Hospital, London & Centre for Clinical Microbiology, University College London

Differential small RNA expression across Mycobacterium bovis field strains
P. Golby, J. Nunez, J. Hinds, A. Witney, S. Bentley, G. Hewinson and S. Gordon. Veterinary Laboratories Agency

AFC Summer 2010

Held at the Veterinary Laboratories Agency, Weybridge

July 2nd 2010

Scientific Programme

Session 1

Mycobacterium bovis Mini-symposium
Glyn Hewinson (VLA).

Bovine Tuberculosis (bTB) is the most important animal health problem facing the country today. This mini symposium will outline the scientific advances made in understanding the spread of bTB and in developing new tools for its control. A question and answer session will allow members to discuss the current scientific evidence base and what can be concluded from it.

Session 2

Mycobacterium bovis-BCG vaccination induces specific transcriptome biosignatures in mice predicting vaccination success
Elihu Aranday-Cortes, Daryan Kaveh, Javier Nunez-Garcia, Philip J Hogarth, H. Martin Vordermeier Veterinary Laboratories Agency

Towards replicating the transcriptome of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in sputum by exposure to different in vitro conditions
Su-Min Lee, Natalie Garton and Mike Barer. University of Leicester

Mycobacterium tuberculosis RD1 is a requisite for virulence-associated cellular recruitment
Suzie Hingley-Wilson and Ajit Lalvani. Wright Fleming Institute of Infection & Immunity, Imperial College London

Session 3

Mycobacterium tuberculosis SigG does not control expression of DNA repair genes in response to DNA damage
Katherine L. Smollett, Lisa F. Dawson and Elaine O. Davis. MRC National Institute for Medical Research, London

Matrix metalloproteinase-1 causes tissue destruction in tuberculosis
Paul Elkington, Takayuki Shiomi, Ronan Breen, Robert K Nuttall, Cesar Augusto Ugarte-Gil, Naomi Walker, Luísa Saraiva, Bernadette Pedersen, Francesco Mauri, Marc Lipman, Dylan R Edwards, Brian D Robertson, Jeanine D’Armiento, & Jon S Friedland. Department of Infectious Diseases and Immunity, Imperial College London

Rapid and efficient construction of mycobacterial mutagenesis vectors using ligation-independent cloning
Ricardo J. C. Balhana, Neil G. Stoker, Sharon L. Kendall. The Royal Veterinary College, London.

Enumeration of polyfunctional antigen-specific T cells by fluorescence-linked-immunospot identifies immune signatures that correlate with distinct stages of tuberculosis infection
Rosalyn Casey, Deena Blumenkrantz, Kerry Millington, Damien Montamat-Sicotte, Onn Min Kon, Melissa Wickremasinghe, Samuel Bremang, Murphy Magtoto, Saranya Sridhar, David Connell & Ajit Lalvani. National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London

New tuberculosis drugs targeted to the essential kinase, PknB
Kathryn E. A. Lougheed, Simon Osborne, Tim Chapman, Barbara Saxty, David Whalley, Tim Nott, Steve Smerdon, Dony Patel, Jasveen Chugh, Catherine Kettleborough, Justin Bryans, Debbie Taylor, Roger S. Buxton. MRC National Institute for Medical Research Mill Hill, London.

Expression and localisation of MPM70 during infection: evidence for a post-phagosomal role in pathogenesis
Alistair F. Ray, Kornelis R. Straatman, Lorna C. Waters, Phillip S. Renshaw, Kirsty L. Lightbody and Mark D. Carr. University of Leicester

AFC Winter 2010

Held at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

January 8th 2010

Scientific Programme

Session 1

Pea Production by mycobacteria
Ruth McNerney and Claire Turner. Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

The Mycobacterium tuberculosis HigA antitoxin does not directly regulate any other genes in addition to its own operon
Amanda S. Fivian-Hughes and Elaine O. Davis. Division of Mycobacterial Research, MRC National Institute for Medical Research, The Ridgeway, Mill Hill, London, NW7 1AA, UK

The regulation of intracellular iron in the BCG-vaccinated host response to M. tuberculosis infection as determined by microarray
Ruth Thom, JA Tree, SO Clark, MJ Elmore, A Williams, PD Marsh. Centre for Emergency Preparedness and Response, Health Protection Agency, Porton Down, Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP4 OJG, UK

A salicylate-inducible promoter of Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Dorothee Schuessler, Amanda Brown and Tanya Parish. Queen Mary University of London, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry. CIID BICM 4, Newark Street London E1 2AT

Investigation of the stability of mycobacterial ribosomes during active growth and stasis
Andrej Trauner and Huw D. Williams. Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College, London

Session 2

Tribute to Chris Collins
given by Malcolm Yates

Human Natural Killer cell activity in response to M. bovis BCG versus M. tuberculosis H37Rv
Damien Portevin & Douglas Young. NIMR, London, UK

The Universal Stress Protein Rv1636 from Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a cation independent nucleotide triphosphatase
Dominic Bradley, Sergio Leiva, Simon Pennell, Ian A. Taylor, Stephen J. Smerdon, Huw D. Williams. Department of Life Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Imperial College, London

Granulocytes are necessary for the detection of mycobacteria-specific CD8+ T-cells responses in healthy individuals
Iman N. Satti, Natalie E.R. Beveridge, Helen A. Fletcher, Ansar A. Pathan, Thomas J. Scriba, Angela Minassian, Clare R. Sander, Willem A. Hanekom,Adrian V.S. Hill and Helen McShane. Jenner Institute, Old Road Campus Research Building, Nuffield Department of Medicine, Oxford University, Churchill Hospital, Old Road, Oxford, UK, OX3 7D

Optimisation of bioluminescent reporter constructs for in vivo imaging of mycobacteria
Nuria Andreu, Andrea Zelmer, Taryn Fletcher, Paul T. Elkington, Siouxsie Wiles and Brian D. Robertson. Department of Microbiology, Imperial College London, Flowers Building, Exhibition Road, London, SW7 2AZ, UK

AFC Summer 2009

Held at the Moredun Research Institute, Edinburgh

July 2nd-3rd 2009

Scientific Programme

Session 1: Research at the Moredun

Johne’s disease: an overview of research at Moredun
Karen Stevenson, Valerie Hughes, Craig A Watkins, Linda May, Susan Denham, Ian Heron and Joyce McLuckie:

Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis – from genome to prevention
Florence E Pethick, Alex Lainson, Michael C Fontaine

Session 2

Phenotype microarray platform: Potential and pitfalls for use with pathogenic mycobacteria
Bhagwati Uphadyay and Paul R Wheeler. Veterinary Laboratories Agency, Weybridge

Fast growing, non-infectious and intra-cellularly surviving drug-resistant Mycobacterium aurum: A model for high-throughput anti-TB drug screening
Antima Gupta, Sanjib Bhakta, Subir Kundu, Manish Gupta, Brahm S. Srivastava, and Ranjana Srivastava. Central Drug Research Institute, India & Birkbeck College, University of London.

Kinetic Profiling of Immune responses to PE/PPE proteins in M. bovis-infected Cattle
H.M. Vordermeier, R.G. Hewinson, D.B. Young, S.L. Sampson. VLA Weybridge& Imperial College London

Session 3

Life and death in the mycobacterial phagosome
Rachel Shrimpton, Priscille Brodin, Olivier Neyrolles, Graham Stewart. Division of Microbial Sciences, University of Surrey, UK

Identification of 2-aminothiazole—4-carboxylate derivatives active against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv and the ketoacyl-ACP synthase mtFabH
Qosay Al-Balas, Nahoum G. Anthony, Bilal Al-Jaidi, Amani Alnimir, Grainne Abbott, Alistair K. Brown, Rebecca C. Taylor, Gurdyal. S. Besra, Timothy D. McHugh, Stephen H. Gillespie, Blair F. Johnston, Simon P. Mackay, Geoffrey D. Coxon. University of Strathclyde, Glasgow.

BCG: surrogate for a human TB challenge?
Minassian, A, Tchilian, E, Poulton, I, Fletcher, H, Andrews, L,   Poyntz, H, Ronan, E,   Hill, A, & McShane, H. The Jenner Institute, Oxford University

Acute and persistent Mycobacterium tuberculosis infections depend on the thiol peroxidase Tpx
Yanmin Hu and Anthony R. M. Coates. St George’s University of London.

 

Genes and proteins of the nat/hsaD gene cluster and their role in cholesterol metabolism
Nathan Lack, Dimitrios Evangelopoulos, Sanjib Bhakta, Lindsay Eltis, Areej Abuhammad, Elizabeth Fullam, Edward Lowe and Edith Sim. University of Oxford.

Session 4

Structure and functional characterisation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis diaminopimelic acid epimerase (MtDapF)
Veeraraghavan Usha, Lynn G. Dover, Klaus Fütterer, David L. Roper, Adrian J. Lloyd and Gurdyal S. Besra. University of Birmingham

The helicase UvrD2 is essential in Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Alan Williams, Burkhard Springer, Erik C. Böttger, and Elaine O. Davis. NIMR, Mill Hill, London

Dissection of regenerating T cell responses against tuberculosis in HIV infected adults with latent tuberculosis
Katalin A. Wilkinson, Ronnett Seldon, Graeme Meintjes, Molebogeng X. Rangaka, Willem A. Hanekom, Gary Maartens, Robert J. Wilkinson. University of Cape Town, South Africa

Live cell imaging to study growth and cell division in mycobacteria
Graham Joyce, Kerstin J. Williams, and Brian D. Robertson. Imperial College London

AFC Winter 2009

Held at the NIMR, Mill Hill

January 9th 2009

Scientific Programme

Session 1

Identification of small RNAs in Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Kristine B. Arnvig and Douglas B. Young. NIMR, London

Identification of TB contacts with latent TB infection in a population with a high HIV and TB burden
Kerry A Millington,Junior Mutsvangwa, Kathryn Chaka, Tafadzwa Mavhudzi, Yin-Bun Cheung, Peter R Mason, , Anthony E Butterworth, Elizabeth L Corbett and Ajit Lalvani. Imperial College, London

Characterisation of a putative dihydrofolate reductase from Mycobacterium smegmatis
Dimitrios Evangelopoulos, Nathan Lack, Giles Robertson, Tina Daviter, Nicholas H. Keep, Edith Simand Sanjib Bhakta. Birkbeck College, University of London

Changes in T cell population dynamics in 3 species: Dynamics of white cell populations in M. tuberculosis infection in rhesus macaques
K Gooch, S Sharpe, A Williams, M Dennis, P D Marsh. Health Protection Agency, CEPR, Porton Down

Detection and molecular characterization of 9000-year old Mycobacterium tuberculosis from a Neolithic settlement in the Eastern Mediterranean
Oona Lee, David Minnikin, Gurdyal Besra, Israel Hershkovitz, Vered Eshed, Ehud Galili, Charles Greenblatt, Eshetu Lemma, Gila Kahila Bar-Gal, Mark Spigelman, Helen Donoghue. University of Birmingham

Session 2

Inhibition of phago-lysosome fusion by Mycobacterium bovis BCG induces a Niemann-Pick type C1-like phenotype
Emyr Lloyd-Evans, Nathan Lack, Edith Sim and Frances M. Platt. University of Oxford

KstR2: Identification of a second TetR-type regulator involved in cholesterol catabolism in mycobacteria
Sharon Kendall, Annemieke ten Bokum, Phillipa Burgess, Mike Withers, Iria Uhia Castro, Nwaamaka Owoh, Nadia Mokhtar and Neil Stoker. The Royal Veterinary College, London

Intranasal vaccination with an ESAT-6 expressing attenuated influenza vaccine
A. Egorov. AVIR Green Hills Biotechnology, Vienna

BCG vaccination induces polyfunctional CD4+ T cells in the spleen which correlate with active immunity to a Mycobacterium bovis challenge
Philip J Hogarth. Veterinary Laboratories Agency, Weybridge.

The Burden of Mycobacterial Disease in Ethiopian Cattle
Stefan Berg, Rebuma Firdessa, Endalamaw Gadisa, Meseret Habtamu, Araya Mengistu, Lawrence Yamuah, Gobena Ameni, Brian D. Robertson, Douglas B. Young, Howard Engers, Noel H. Smith, Martin Vordermeier, R. Glyn Hewinson, Abraham Aseffa, and Stephen V. Gordon. Veterinary Laboratories Agency, Weybridge

AFC Summer 2008

Held at the University of Leicester

July 10^th-11th 2008

Scientific Programme

Session 1: Leicester-related symposium Part 1
Overview of TB research at Leicester
Mike Barer

Short read sequencing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis
NJ Loman, GM Weinstock, K Rajakumar, MR Barer & M Pallen.

Structural and Functional Characterisation of Complexes Formed by ESAT-6/CFP-10 Family Proteins
Kirsty Lightbody, Dariush Ilghari, Lorna Waters, Vaclav Veverka, Richard Williamson,Philip Renshaw and Mark Carr

The role of PknG in metabolic regulation in M. tuberculosis
Helen O’Hare, Rosario Durán, Jens Baumgartner, Marco Bellinzoni, Anne-Marie Wehenkel, Carlos Cervenansky, Pedro Alzari, Kai Johnsson

Session 2: Leicester-related symposium Part 2
Studies on lipid bodies of Mycobacterium tuberculosis: Survival of the fattest?
Su-Min Lee, Galina Mukamolova, Anna Sherratt, Natalie Garton and Mike Barer

TBIT: A Database for the integrated surveillance and management of tuberculosis cases, latent Tb infection (LTBI) and microbiology
Gerrit Woltmann, Rob Free, Joanne Malkin and Mike Barer.

Evaluation of mask sampling and rapid molecular assays in studying the transmission of tuberculosis in Leicester
Eddy Cheah, Joanne Malkin, Rob Free and Mike Barer

Session 3: Offered papers

The Mtb Cytochrome P450 Systems: structural insights and drug targeting
Kirsty J McLean, Colin Levy, David Leys and Andrew W Munro, University of Manchester

A simple mutation-based assay for determining the translational start sites of mycobacterial proteins
Katherine Smollett, Amanda Fivian-Hughes, Anchi Chang and Elaine Davis, MRC National Institute for Medical Research, London

Relationship of Th1 and FoxP3 positive T cells to the HIV-tuberculosis immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome
Graeme A Meintjes, Katalin Wilkinson, Molebogeng Rangaka, Keira Skolimowska, Kerryn van Veen, Musaed Abrahams,Ronnett Seldon, Priscilla Mouton, Dominique J Pepper, Kevin Rebe, Gilles van Cutsem, Mark Patrick Nicol, Gary Maartens, Robert Wilkinson, University of Cape Town, South Africa

Characterization of a mycobacterial strain that fails to produce mature mycolic acids
Apoorva Bhatt, University of Birmingham

Novel Antimycobacterial Agents Targeting Mycolate Synthesis: Are They Pyrazinamide Like?
Amani Alnimr, Geoff Coxon, Tim McHugh, Stephen Gillespie. Royal Free and University College Medical School

Session 4: Offered papers

Oral BCG-Lipid protects from aerogenic M. bovis infection in the guinea pig
Simon Clark, Frank Aldwell, Martin Cross, Julia Vipond, Yper Hall, Allan Nadian, Ann Williams, Mark Chambers, HPA, CEPR, Porton

Identification of a crucial branching enzyme in mycobacterial arabinogalactan biosynthesis
Luke J. Alderwick, Helen L. Birch, Apoorva Bhatt, Doris Rittmann, Karin Krumbach, Albel Singh, Yu Bai, Todd L. Lowary, Lothar Eggeling, and Gurdyal S. Besra, University of Birmingham

MurE, an ATP dependent ligase in Mycobacterium tuberculosis: recombinant expression, purification and biochemical characterisation
Chandrakala Basavannacharya, Giles Robertson, Alexis Rubio, Edith Sim, Nicholas Keepand Sanjib Bhakta, Birkbeck, University of London

Genetic requirements for growth rate modulation during continuous culture in a chemostat
Dany JV Beste, Bhushan Bonde, Graham Stewart, Claudio Avignone-Rossa, Mike Bushell, Andrzej Kierzek and Johnjoe McFadden, University of Surrey, Guildford

AFC Winter 2008

Held at Barts & The London

January 11th 2008

Scientific Programme

Session 1
Validating drug targets in Mycobacterium tuberculosis
David M. Roberts, Paul Carroll, Karen Adie, Tanya Parish. Infectious Disease Research Institute, Seattle, USA

Unique transcriptome profiles of M.tuberculosis in human sputum
Simon Waddell, Natalie Garton, Claire Senner, Jason Hinds, Mike Barer and Philip Butcher. St George’s University of London

Dissecting M.tuberculosis driven signalling pathways in human macrophages causing tissue destruction
L. Rand, J.A. Green, P.T.G. Elkington, J. S. Friedland. Infectious Diseases and Immunity, Imperial College London

Rapid differentiation of rifampicin-resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Kim Mallard, Ghada S. Sharaf Eldon and Ruth McNerney. London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Heterogeneity of HupB, an iron-regulated protein of mycobacteria
Veena C Yeruva, Paul R. Wheeler, Stephen Gordon and Manjula Sritharan. School of Life Sciences, University of Hyderabad, India

Session 2

Bystander macrophage apoptosis after Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Ra infection
Joseph Keane, Annemieke M.C. ten Bokum, Seonadh M. O’Leary, Deirdre M. Kelly, Mary P. O’Sullivan. Trinity College Dublin and St. James’s Hospital, Dublin, Ireland

Analysis of a single nucleotide polymorphism in M. bovis BCG
Debbie M. Hunt, José W. Saldanha, John F. Brennan, Pearline Benjamin, Jeffrey A. Cole, Claire L. Spreadbury and Roger S. Buxton. MRC National Institute for Medical Research.

Hypervirulence through gene deletion in Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Annemieke ten Bokum, Farah Movahedzadeh, Rosangela Frita, Sharon Kendall, Debbie Smith, Greg Bancroft and Neil Stoker. London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

Deletion of hmp gene alters lipid biosynthesis of M. tuberculosis and leads to attenuation of the organism in macrophage and murine infection models
Yanmin Hu¹, Gurdyal S. Besra,² Sudagar S. Gurcha,² Manfred Rohde³  Mahavir Singh³ and Anthony Coates¹. ¹ St George’s University of London, ² School of Biosciences, The University of Birmingham, ³ Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Braunschweig, Germany

Survival of Mycobacterium bovis in protozoa
Cornelia Mardare, Frans de Leij & Jeremy W Dale. University of Surrey, Guildford

AFC Summer 2007

Held at Churchill campus, University of Oxford

July 6th 2007

Scientific Programme

Session 1
BCG-MVA85A vaccination in humans: polyfunctional nature of antigen 85A-specific CD4+ T cell populations
Beveridge NER, Price DA, Casazza JP, Pathan AA, Sander CR, Asher TE, Ambrozak DR, Precopio ML, Scheinberg P, Alder NC, Roederer M, Koup RK, Douek DC, Hill AVS, McShane H. Oxford University

Control of gene expression in Mycobacterium tuberculosis by the SenX3 RegX3 two component system
Jade James and Tanya Parish. Barts and the London

Protection imparted by anti-IL-4 antibody in a murine model of M. tuberculosis infection: a potential immunotherapeutic agent?
E Roy, J Brennan, DB Lowrie & S Jolles. Cardiff University

Studying the soj gene of Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Rosangela M. Frita, Farahnaz Movahedzadeh, Annemieke ten Bokum, Neil G. Stoker. The Royal Veterinary College

An ABC transporter required for sugar uptake and virulence in Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Rachael Whalan and Roger Buxton. National Institute for Medical Research

Session 2

Quantification of global transcription patterns in Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Sidders, B., Wernisch, L., Withers, M., Kendall, SL., Cox, RA., Frita, R., Ten Bokum, A. and Stoker, NG. The Royal Veterinary College

Mycolic-acid specific T cell responses as a marker of tuberculosis
Montamat-Sicotte D, Millington K, Willcox C, Besra G, Innes J, Hackfoth S, Lammas D, Willcox B, Lalvani, A. Imperial College London

Regulation of narK2 and Mb1767 genes in M. bovis and M. tuberculosis
Christian Palavecino and Tanya Parish. Barts and the London.

Exploring intracellular M. tuberculosis transcriptomes from human dendritic cell and macrophage infection models
SJ Waddell, M Withers, L Tailleux, N Stoker, O Neyrolles & PD Butcher. St George’s University of London

AFC Winter 2007

Held at St Mary’s campus, Imperial College, London

January 12th 2007

Scientific Programme

Pre-meeting session

Discussion on withdrawal of Hycolin
Led by Ann Rawkins

Session 1
Frequency of Mycobacterium tuberculosis antigen specific IFN-γ-secreting T cells correlates with presence of pathology in tuberculosis
Timothy S.C. Hinks, Davinder P.S. Dosanjh, John A. Innes, Geoffrey Pasvol, Sarah Hackforth, Hansa Varia, Xiao-Qing Liu, Kerry A. Millington, Rubamalar Gunatheesan, Valerie Guyot-Revol, JonathanJ. Deeks & Ajit Lalvani. Tuberculosis Immunology Group, Imperial College London

Plant Expression and Production Methodologies for Recombinant TB antigiens: Scientific and Strategic Considerations for Ensuring Affordable Product Access for Poorer Populations in Need
Julian Ma and Harry Thangaraj. Centre for Management of Intellectual Property in Health R&D, Oxford

A new perspective on mycobacterial cell wall biosynthesis and the identification of potential drug targets
Luke J. Alderwick, Mathias Seidel, Lothar Eggeling & Gurdyal S. Besra. School of Biosciences, The University of Birmingham

Isoniazid assisted protective immunity in bovine tuberculosis
Dean GS, Rhodes SG, Wheeler PR, Villareal-Ramos B, Vordermeier HM. TB Research Group, VLA Weybridge

A novel transcriptional regulator of PE/PPE genes of Mycobacterium tuberculosis contributes to disease immunopathology
Sunali D. Goonesekera, Barry R. Bloom, Douglas B. Young, Samantha L. Sampson. Centre for Molecular Microbiology and Infection, Imperial College London

Session 2

Philip D’Arcy Hart memorial
Philip Draper on Behalf of the Acid fast Club

Neutrophil-mediated innate immune resistance to mycobacteria
Adrian R. Martineau Sandra M. NewtonKatalin A. WilkinsonBeate Kampmann Bridget M. Hall Niga Nawroly, Geoffrey E. Packe Robert N. Davidson Christopher J. GriffithsRobert J. Wilkinson. Wellcome Trust Centre for Research in Clinical Tropical Medicine, Imperial College London

Arabinosyl transferases in Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Renan Goude & Tanya Parish. Centre for Infectious Disease, Barts and the London

Brewing up resistance!
Claire Jenkins, Joanna Bacon, Catherine Arnold, Alpana Bose, Jon Allnutt, Ellie Shaw, Tim McHugh & Stephen Gillespie. Royal Free & University College Medical School, London, NW3 2QG

AFC Summer 2006

Held at CEPR, Health Protection Agency, Porton Down

July 13th-14th 2006

Scientific Programme

Session 1: CEPR TB Programme
Overview of TB Research at CEPR
Philip Marsh

Guinea pig aerosol infection models in TB research
Ann Rawkins

Analysis of physiology and gene expression of M. tuberculosis grown in continuous culture
Joanna Bacon

From genes to vaccines: candidate selection and evaluation
Julia Vipond

Establishment of a non-human primate model of tuberculosis
Sally Sharpe

Session 2: Guest speakers

Transcriptomic analysis of host-pathogen interactions
Philip Butcher, Simon Waddell. St George’s University of London

Diagnostic and therapeutic potentials of antibodies for the control of tuberculosis
Juraj Ivanyi, Kings College London

Investigation of mechanisms of protection of recombinant viral vectors containing antigen 85A in a murine model
Clare Sander, University of Oxford

Session 3: Offered papers

The role of GlnE in Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Paul Carroll and Tanya Parish, Barts and the London, QM

Arylamine N-acetyltransferase, in mycobacteria, is a novel target for anti-TB therapy
Sanjib Bhakta, Isaac M. Westwood, Matthew C. Anderton, Angela Russell, Hilary Long, Gurdyal Singh Besra, Ajit Lalvani, Tanya Parish, Steve Davies, Edith Sim. Department of Pharmacology, University of Oxford.

Reassessment of optimal tuberculin skin test cut-off points for diagnosis of M. tuberculosis infection
Davinder Dosanjh, Mustafa Bakir, Jon Deeks, Ahmet Soysal, Kerry Millington, Yasemin Aslan, Serpil Efe, Imogen Staveley, Katie Ewer, Ajit Lalvani. Tuberculosis Immunology Group, University of Oxford

Lipid body-positive populations of tubercle bacilli in sputum – persisters responsible for protracted therapy?
Anna L Sherratt, Natalie J Garton, Rebecca J Smith, Robert C Free, Claire Senner, Jason Hinds, Kumar Rajakumar, Richard A Adegbola, Gurdyal S Besra, Philip D Butcher and Michael R Barer. University of Leicester

A transcriptomic approach for studying the activation of dendritic cells in response to mycobacterial infection
N Krishnan, J Brennan, M Yang, R Butler, R S Buxton, M Romano and R E Tascon. Division of Mycobacterial Research, MRC NIMR

Session 4: Offered papers

Mycobacterium tuberculosis chaperonin 60.1 influences the formation of granulomas in vivo.
Yanmin Hu, B Henderson, P Tormay, H Liu, P Lund, A Coates. Medical Microbiology, St George’s, University of London.

Structure and function of arylamine N-acetyltransferase of Mycobacterium marinum
Elizabeth Fullam, Sanjib Bhakta, Matthew Anderton, Angela Russell, Steve Davies, Martin Noble, Edith Sim. Department of Pharmacology, University of Oxford

Dynamic relationship between IFN-γ and IL-2 profile of Mycobacterium tuberculosis-specific T cells and antigen load during and after treatment of active tuberculosis
K.A. Millington, T.S.C. Hinks, J.A. Innes, S. Hackforth, J.J. Deeks, P. Klenerman and A. Lalvani. Tuberculosis Immunology Group, University of Oxford

Comparison of fluoroquinolone activites in a Durban study of serial sputum cfu counts
Rustomjee R, Fourie B, Davies G, Levin J and Mitchison DA. Medical Microbiology, St George’s, University of London.