JHU TRAC: Training and Supporting the Next Generation of TB Researchers

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ABSTRACT — JHU TRAC OVERALL Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major global health problem, and advances in the basic and clinical sciences are urgently needed to make progress towards the World Health Organization’s End TB Strategy goal of reducing TB deaths by 95% and new cases by 90% between 2015 and 2035. The Johns Hopkins University (JHU) Center for Tuberculosis Research (CTR) has been a global leader in TB pathogenesis, translational models, diagnostics, drug development, pharmacology, public health interventions, and epidemiological and economic modeling for more than two decades. Research emanating from the CTR and JHU has transformed the treatment of TB infection and disease, elucidated interactions between TB and HIV drugs, validated the efficacy and effectiveness of new diagnostic tools, and contributed to the development of evidence-based policies for global TB control, based on the epidemiology and population dynamics of TB. However, to make further progress in efforts to achieve the END TB goals, additional innovative, cross-disciplinary and impactful research is critical and a new generation of TB scientists must be recruited and trained, particularly among groups nationally underrepresented in health-related research (UHRR). We have assembled a multidisciplinary team of researchers from multiple departments spanning four JHU schools (Medicine, Public Health, Nursing and Engineering), with complementary expertise in microbial pathogenesis, immunology, animal models, imaging, clinical trials, diagnostics, epidemiology, pharmacology and pharmacometrics, computational modeling, and biostatistics, in order to provide added value to the TB research enterprise at JHU optimize training opportunities for junior investigators and support for new, interdisciplinary collaborations, with the goal of addressing key knowledge gaps in TB research. The JHU TRAC team comprises 58 researchers, including 32 experienced TB researchers (19 current members of the CTR), 15 senior researchers new to the TB field, and 11 Early Stage Investigators (ESI). The overarching mission of the JHU TRAC is to advance TB research by promoting innovative, multidisciplinary collaborations and by recruiting, training and supporting junior Investigators, especially among UHRR groups, to develop the next generation of leaders in TB research. To this end, the JHU TRAC will focus on these four areas: 1) Enhance the integration, productivity and impact of JHU TB research; 2) Provide mentoring, support, and pilot funding for the next generation of TB researchers, and to increase the pipeline of junior investigators from UHRR groups; 3) Support TB researchers with direct services from a Clinical Core and three Scientific Cores; 4) Contribute to the END TB goals through global engagement, training, outreach, and collaboration with partners in high-burden countries. The JHU TRAC is organized into six Cores (Adminsitrative Core (AC); Developmental Core (DC); Clinical Core (CC); Microbiology, Immunology, Animal Modeling and Imaging (MIAMI) Core; Pharmacology and Pharmacometrics Core (PPC); and Bioinformatics, Modeling and Biostatistics Core (BMBC), which will interact closely with each other to promote synergy in TB research, and ensure that the utility and output of the JHU TRAC is greater than the sum of its parts.