Journal of Biotechnology & Biomaterials
Open Access

Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a significant cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide with nearly 9 million new infections annually and 1.4 million deaths. The infection is relatively difficult to treat with antibiotics and the spread of drug resistant organisms define the need for using more appropriate animal models closely related to humans. The only vaccine available, Bacillus Chalmette Guerin (BCG), shows variable efficacy ranging from 0-80% in different geographic populations. One of the important lines of research at Biomedical Primate Research Centre (BPRC) in Netherlands is the investigation of the pathogenesis and protective immunity of disease and preclinical evaluation of new vaccine strategies. We use non-human primates (NHP) and macaques specifically, which in contrast to all other TB models are closely related to humans and naturally susceptible to Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb) and present the best recapitulation of the human disease. In the years ahead, TB research will try and further build on its expertise in preclinical vaccine studies. Future efforts shall focus also on improvement/refinement of the modeling towards relevant readout of protective TB vaccine effects, which may include advanced bio-imaging. The rationale for improved modeling will be sought in fundamental research strategies that can contribute to a better understanding of the (early) host response against M.tuberculosis and TB pathogenesis. Further integration of applied and basic research efforts will leverage towards improvement of TB therapy as well as sustainability of TB vaccine research and TB drug research and development at BPRC.

Biography

Ivanela Kondova is the head of Division of Pathology and Microbiology at Biomedical Primate Research Center in Netherlands. She is involved in research projects for global pharmaceutical industry, World Health Organization and many different academic Institutions. She was trained as a Veterinary pathologist at the New England Primate Research Center - Harvard Medical School in Massachusetts, United States. She gained extensive experience in the area of infectious diseases while she was working at Tufts Veterinary University, MA, US. She has published more than 50 scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals.

Email: kondova@bprc.nl