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DR-TB preventive therapy webinar

Image announcing DR-TPT webinar

Preventive therapy for drug-resistant tuberculosis

 Tuesday 8th October, 14:00-16:00 BST

Join us for a webinar exploring the latest updates in TB preventive treatment for individuals exposed to drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB).

In September 2024, WHO released much-anticipated new guidelines on TB preventive treatment (TPT), featuring a strong recommendation for drug-resistant TPT (DR-TPT): a 6-month daily levofloxacin regimen for individuals exposed to multidrug- and rifampicin-resistant TB .

This webinar will focus on the evidence behind this new recommendation, addressing both its benefits and potential risks. We will also discuss community perspectives and the practical challenges of implementing DR-TPT in diverse settings. A panel of global experts will offer insights into effective programmatic implementation and highlight areas where further research is needed.


    Join the webinar using this link: https://ucl.zoom.us/j/96519210859


    Agenda:

    • Welcome (Prof Lele Rangaka (UCL); Dr Dennis Falzon (WHO))
    • Overview of updates to WHO consolidated guidelines on TB preventive treatment (Dr Avinash Kanchar)
    • Community perspectives on preventive therapy for DR-TB (Dr Stephanie Law)
    • Combined analysis of efficacy and safety data from TB-CHAMP and VQUIN trials (Dr Trinh Duong)
    • Impact of levofloxacin preventive therapy on microbiome and acquired drug resistance (Prof Greg Fox)
    • Monitoring roll-out of DR-TB preventive therapy - master protocol (Dr Yohhei Hamada)
    • Country experiences with implementation (Dr Maia Kipiani, Georgia; Dr Maja Stosic, Dr Vesna Vekovic, Serbia)
    • Panel discussion – Implications of new guidelines for implementation and future research

    Speakers:

    Avinash Kanchar photo
    Dr Avinash Kanchar

    Avinash Kanchar is Medical Officer in TB Prevention, Diagnosis, Treatment, Care & Innovation unit at WHOs Global Tuberculosis Programme in Geneva. His focus is policy development and support for programmatic management of TPT, TB infection prevention and control and digital technologies for TB. He is a medical doctor with post graduate degree in public health. Prior to joining WHO headquarters he worked as WHO field consultant for national TB and HIV programmes in India for >10 years. He contributed to development of several WHO documents, latest being second edition of WHO guideline on TPT and handbook on TB IPC.

    Stehanie Law photo
    Dr Stephanie Law

    Stephanie Law is an epidemiologist currently completing her postdoctoral training under Dr. Faiz Ahmad Khan at McGill University. Her research involves using qualitative and quantitative methods to explore the sociocultural aspects of tuberculosis care, with a particular focus on the role of trust between tuberculosis patients and their health care providers over the course of treatment. Her current research projects, spanning different topics in tuberculosis treatment and care, also include collaborations with the Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services, McGill International TB Centre, the WHO and the Centre for the AIDS programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA). Dr. Law received her MSc and Ph.D. degrees in epidemiology from McGill University, as well as her Master of Journalism degree from the University of British Columbia.

    Trinh Duong photo
    Dr Trinh Duong

    Trinh Duong is a medical statistician with more than 20 years experience. During the first half of herresearch career, she mainly focused on observational cohort studies and internationalindividual patient data meta-analyses in paediatric HIV. She later transitioned to trial work,covering various disease areas.She is currently the statistical lead on the programme of TB prevention studies at the MedicalResearch Council Clinical Trials Unit at University College London. She was the trial statisticianin TB-CHAMP, and project lead for the combined analysis with VQUIN.

    Greg Fox photo
    Professor Greg Fox

    Greg Fox is interim Director of the Sydney Southeast Asia Centre, and Director of the NHMRC Centre for Research Excellence in Tuberculosis at the University of Sydney. He has led clinical trials and research relating to infectious diseases and chronic diseases in Vietnam for over 15 years. His research includes multicentre studies into the prevention and detection of tuberculosis and other lung diseases. Professor Fox works clinically as a Respiratory Physician at Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred Hospital

    Yohhei Hamada photo
    Dr Yohhei Hamada

    Yohhei Hamada is a Clinical Research Fellow at the UCL Institute for Global Health, specializing in infectious disease epidemiology. He has collaborated with WHO EURO as one of the lead writers in developing the master protocol for operational studies on TPT for individuals exposed to drug-resistant TB. 

    Maia Kippiani photo
    Dr Maia Kippiani

    Maia Kippiani is the Coordinator of TB management and Control Service at the National TB Program of Georgia, in addition she is TBI Coordinator through the Global Fund TB Project in the country. She currently serves as the Deputy Head of the NCTLD Scientific Research Unit (CRU) where she oversees all research activities and additionally serve as the Site Principal Investigator (PI) and Co-Investigator on an NIH NIAID R01 studies in collaboration with colleagues from Emory University, Georgia and University of California, San Francisco. The center has strong international research partners - Emory University in the USA, the Swiss Institute of Tropical Medicine, the Koch-Mechnikov Forum in Germany and others.

    Maja Stosic photo
    Dr Maja Stosic

    Maja Stosic is a medical doctor, specialist in epidemiology and PhD in Public Health. She is a Tuberculosis (TB) Program Coordinator for Serbia. Her experiences are related to the management of health programs anti TB drug forecasting, procurement and management, the implementation of numerous Global Fund and EU projects in the field of prevention and control of infectious diseases, implementation of international health regulations, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, public health and wellbeing, prevention and control of COVID-19 with special emphasis on COVID vaccination and immunogenicity and vaccine effectiveness studies. Dr Stosic serves as the WHO Temporary Advisor in the area of TB Prevention and Screening.

    Vesna Vekovic photo
    Dr Vesna Vekovic

    Vesna Vekovic is a paediatric pulmonologist, improving the respiratory health of children at the “Dr Dragisa Misovic” Medical Centar, a Children’s hospital for lung diseases and tuberculosis in Belgrade, Serbia. Her expertise in pulmonology have made her a trusted figure in the field, treating countless young patients with a wide range of respiratory conditions, including asthma, chronic lung diseases, allergies and  tuberculosis. She earned her medical degree from the Medical faculty at the University of Belgrade, followed by specialized training in general paediatrics and paediatric pulmonology. She completed a residency in paediatrics in Belgrade University and pursued advanced fellowship training in paediatric pulmonology, clinical training in paediatric pulmonology, Royal Brompton and Hartfield hospitals, London, UK, gaining hands-on experience with complex respiratory cases in children.

    Anneke Hesseling photo
    Professor Anneke Hesseling

    Anneke Hesseling is a Distinguished Professor in Paediatrics and Child Health at Stellenbosch University, where she holds the SARChI chair in paediatric tuberculosis. Anneke has been conducting clinical TB research in children in settings with a high-burden of TB and HIV in South Africa and globally for 18 years. The focus of her research is improved and safe TB preventive strategies for HIV-infected and uninfected children, adolescents, pregnant women and households through chemotherapy and vaccination, improved treatment strategies for drug-susceptible and resistant TB disease, and improved TB diagnosis in HIV-infected and uninfected children. Her group also has a strong focus on epidemiology, implementation science and health systems strengthening and advocacy for paediatric TB.

    James Seddon photo
    Professor James Seddon

    James Seddon is a Professor of Global Child Health at Imperial College London, a Professor at Stellenbosch University, and a Consultant in Paediatric Infectious Diseases at St. Mary’s Hospital in London. His research focusses on children with TB, including TB diagnostics, TB therapeutics, advanced imaging for child TB, drug-resistant TB, TB meningitis, adolescent TB, TB burden modelling and the evaluation of TB biomarkers. James studied medicine at Cambridge University and Imperial College London and has trained in paediatric infectious diseases at centres of excellence in the United Kingdom, with extensive clinical experience in low resource settings.
     

    The event will be recorded and posted online on the UCL-TB YouTube channel