TB Clinical Research: Training the Next Generation

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The Investigator, Carol Dukes Hamilton, M.D., will use NIH K24 funding to help train future generations of clinical-scientists for a career in tuberculosis (TB) research. TB is responsible for more human deaths than any other infectious disease. Dr. Hamilton's long-term research goals are to optimize strategies for treating active and latent TB in adults and children. Strengths of her program include ongoing funding and active participation in the CDC-funded TB Trials Consortium clinical trials group, the CDC-funded TB Epidemiologic Studies Consortium, and an NHLBI-funded study of genetics of TB susceptibility. These funded programs form the basis of her research enterprise. They combine perfectly with the opportunities afforded by her position as the Medical Director for North Carolina's TB Control Program, providing an avenue for subject recruitment, clinical and epidemiologic research training for advisees, and the opportunity to implement changes based on the findings. The strength of Dr. Hamilton's TB research program is that she employs both clinical trials and epidemiologic studies to attain her research goals. Trainees can tap into one or the other methodologies during their training. Didactic course work leading to either a Masters in Clinical Research Science or Public Health is an integral part of Dr. Hamilton's mentoring plan. Dr. Hamilton will also strengthen her experiencebased research capability using these resources. Dr. Hamilton's research plan includes a description of the TB Trials Consortium clinical trial, "Study 26", comparing the effectiveness of 9 months of daily isoniazid therapy to 12 doses of weekly isoniazid plus rifapentine, for treatment of latent TB infection. Planned and potential sub-studies and secondary analyses provide fertile substrate for trainee-initiated research projects. The research plan also includes her NHLBI funded genetic epidemiologic study of candidate genes that may contribute to human TB susceptibility. Her work with the Duke Center for Human Genetics is an example of translational research she hopes to foster within her mycobacteria research program.