TB PREVENTION CLUSTER: New strategies for treatment and prevention of mycobacterial diseases

• Research unit: EU RFP
• Project number: 01.0557

Key words (English)

Life Sciences; Medicine; Health; Safety; Scientific Research; Social Aspects

Alternative project number (English)

EU project number: QLK2-2000-01761

Research programs (English)

EU-programme: 5. Frame Research Programme - 1.1.2 Control of infectious diseases

Short description (English)

See abstract

Further information (English)

Full name of research-institution/enterprise:
Universität Zürich
Institut für Medizinische Mikrobiologie

Abstract (English)

Recent progress in the fields of epidemiology, biochemistry and mycobacterial genetics provide exciting new opportunities for developing new strategies for prevention and treatment of mycobacterial diseases. The proposed TB Prevention Cluster provides a multidisciplinary European approach based on an integrated, goal-oriented strategy.

The Cluster combines three areas of fundamental importance to tackle the problem of tuberculosis:
(i) cell wall structure, permeability and innate drug resistance;
(ii) novel drug targets;
(iii) transmissability and prevention strategies.

The overall goal of the Cluster is to contribute to strategies for preventing spread of resistance, to identify strategies to overcome innate mycobacterial drug resistance, to characterize targets for future drug design, to develop more effective tools for epidemiologic monitoring and for diagnosis of infection, to identify factors determining transmission. The outcomes of the Cluster contributing to more effective measurements for prevention of tuberculosis and fuelling into strategies for optimal use of existing antimycobacterial agents and identification of novel tar gets for anti-infective drugs would have a major impact on tuberculosis control in the European Union and worldwide.

References in databases (English)

Swiss Database: Euro-DB of the
State Secretariat for Education and Research
Hallwylstrasse 4
CH-3003 Berne, Switzerland
Tel. [phone]
Swiss Project-Number: 01.0557