A focus on battling tuberculosis
Scientists from around New England gathered at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard on Thursday (June 23) to share the latest advances in understanding of the biology of tuberculosis and how best to attack the disease. Several hundred researchers gathered for the Fifth Annual New England Tuberculosis Symposium, sponsored by the Harvard Global Health Institute, for sessions covering topics that ranged from new findings on how the tuberculosis bacteria grows, to the body’s immune response to infection, to the latest progress toward a more effective vaccine. Sarah Fortune, assistant professor of immunology and infectious diseases at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and one of the event’s organizers, said that although several participants came from outside the region, even from as far away as South Africa, the event’s focus was on building relationships among New England scientists studying tuberculosis. This community-building aspect allowed them to share results and get to...