AFC Summer meeting 2025
3rd July 2025
Programme of speakers, associates, affiliations and presented titles
(Speakers indicated in Bold)
Welcome by AFC Chair, Mike Barer and host Frederico Brucoli
Session 1: Host Session
Linking basic research with the TB clinic
Helen O’Hare
University of Leicester
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MbtA as a promising target for the development of therapeutic agents against TB and other mycobacterial diseases.
Federico Brucoli, Chitra Seewooruthun, Peter Moody, Sanjib Bhakta,
Leicester De Montford University
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Unveiling the properties of the conserved MurJ extracellular domain in Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
Rafael Marques da Silva, Galina Mukamolova
University of Leicester
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Using Cryo-EM to understand DNA repair and antibiotic resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
Amanda Chapman.
University of Leicester
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Application of CELEBS for investigation of mycobacteria in aerosol.
Georgia Osborn, Mia Dierks-Treece, Robert Alexander, Allen Haddrell, Darryl Hill, Jonathan Reid, Natalie Garton.
University of Leicester
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Session 2: Selected papers from submitted abstracts
Novel mRNA vaccines protect against tuberculosis and synergise effectively with viral vectors.
Chris De Voss, Marcellus Korompis, Shuailin Li, Alberta Ateere, Elena Stylianou, Helen McShane.
University of Oxford
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ATP-dependent MurE ligase from Mycobacterium abscessus: a valid target for new anti-mycobacterial drug design,
Ekaterina Lamber, Claire Bagnéris, Chris Daniel, Karan S. Kanwar, Andrey Lebedev, Nikos Pinotsis, Sanjib Bhakta
Kingston University
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Novel inhibitors of mycobactin as anti-tubercular agents to combat drug-resistant mycobacterial infections.
Gourav Rakshit, Sanjib Bhakta and Venkatesan Jayaprakash.
Birkbeck, University of London
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SimpliciTB Results and Hepatic Safety of Pretomanid Regimens +/- Pyrazinamide.
Stephen Gillespie, Derek Sloan.
University of St Andrews.
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Nature can teach an old dog new tricks: Metabolic regulator that is essential for M. tuberculosis virulence.
Jane Newcombe, Jordan Pascoe, Tom Mendum, Albel Singh, Shalini Birua, Somenath Shee, Anand Kushi, Apoorva Bhatt, Gerald Larrouy-Maumus, Amit Singh, Jessica Mendoza, Celia Goulding, Dany Beste.
University of Surrey
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4th July 2025
Session 3: Selected papers from submitted abstracts
Mycolactone-producing mycobacteria as surrogates to study M. ulcerans-macrophage interactions.
Kwabena Owusu-Boateng, Belinda Hall, Jane Newcombe, Jim Barber, Suzie Hingley-Wilson, Rachel Simmonds.
University of Surrey
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Development of spatial single-cell mass spectrometry to understand why some macrophages never get infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
Abigail Cook, Dany Beste, Melanie Bailey.
University of Surrey
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Emergence of drug resistance mutations for Bedaquiline and Moxifloxacin Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
Sylvia Rofael, Linzy Elton, Emil Kazounis, Pascal Jolivet, Animesh Sinha, Catherine Berry, Timothy McHugh, Bern-Thomas Nyang’wa, Anna.
University College of London.
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Remission spectroscopy resolves the mode of action of bedaquiline within living mycobacteria.
Suzanna Harrison, Rowan Walters, Chen-Yi Cheung, Roger Springett, Gregory Cook, Morwan Osman, Jamie Blaza.
University of York.
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Session 4: Selected papers from submitted abstracts
The function and transcriptional regulation of the M. tuberculosis Tap efflux pump.
Robin Hanson, Adam Roberts, Sam Freeman Fox, Irilenia Nobeli, Nick Underhill, Chris Moon, Richard Hesp, Sharon Kendall, Joanna Bacon.
UKHSA.
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Detangling coding from non-coding regions in the annotation of the M. tuberculosis genome with a phylogeny-aware test for codon substitution bias.
Nicolas Underhill, Jennifer Stiens, Sharon Kendall, Irene Nobeli.
Birkbeck University London
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Taurine, glycine and tryptophan are distinct metabolic classifiers for identifying pulmonary vs. extrapulmonary pleural tuberculosis.
Shagun Shagun, Tiffany Xu, Holly May-Lewis, Roberto Stefan, Raquel Correa, Debra Skene, Luciana Rodrigues, Khushboo Borah Slater.
University of Exeter
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Enzymatic characterization of CYP123 and its role in a novel lanosterol catabolic pathway.
Dongxu Yuan, Lauren Hatfield, Hannah Ryan, Yi Jin, Rémi Zallot.
University of Manchester
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