In Memoriam ~ Dr. Ian M. Orme ~ Scientist, Mentor, Friend.
August 9, 1952 ~ June 19, 2018
“I am most proud of the incredible individuals who have come through my laboratory. It is very gratifying to know that when I am gone, they will be here to carry on this important work. My research work has been fulfilling and productive, but it is the people who I have met and worked with through the years who have made this endeavor ultimately so rewarding.” Ian M. Orme
Obituaries
He lived life to the fullest • A bright star in the galaxy •
A generous, supportive researcher • A seeker of truth • One of the good ones
TB bugs him: Microbe hunter retires to Onchiota
Friends and Neighbors: Everyone has a story
Ian Orme, recently honored for his groundbreaking studies of tuberculosis, sits in the Blue Moon Cafe in Saranac Lake Wednesday.
(Enterprise photo — Glynis Hart)
(Enterprise photo — Glynis Hart)
Sep 8, 2017
SARANAC LAKE — Ian Orme has spent a lifetime fighting tuberculosis, and now the professor recently named a “Pillar of Immunology” has moved to “the great metropolis of Onchiota,” as he put it, where his primary goal is to improve his golf game.
At least, that’s his story. The Journal of Immunology honored Orme this August in its “Pillars of Immunology” series, in which it republishes articles that had major impact on how diseases are understood and treated.
“This is a tremendous honor for me, and an honor for Trudeau Institute as well,” said Orme. “They started my career; they gave me the facilities to do the work.”
However, a mere five minutes in Orme’s presence makes it clear he’s not the retiring type.
“That’s what my boss said,” Orme admits wryly. Colorado State University, where Orme helped establish a world-class TB-fighting lab, has rehired Orme with a 40 percent workload. Orme continues to write scholarly articles in his field.
“I’ve got a few articles due this month,” said Orme. “So I’m still an annoying person.”
Born near London, Orme went to university on a scholarship. Although his earliest dream was to play rugby, he ended up studying tuberculosis. After he obtained his Ph.D, Orme went on a Greyhound bus tour of America.
“They said, the place you should go is Trudeau [Institute],” said Orme. So he visited Saranac Lake, gave a talk at the institute, and “when I got home, I had three job offers. One was from Trudeau.”
He began in 1981, working with the late Frank Collins on mycobacterial infections. It was at Trudeau, he said, that he learned how to grow the highly infectious tuberculosis bacteria safely, and where he was able to open a Level 3 (infection control) unit to study the disease.
It’s also where he met his wife, Eileen, an operating room nurse at the hospital in Saranac Lake. In 1986 he was offered a job at Colorado State University, where in 1998 he co-founded CSU’s Mycobacteria Research Laboratories, which has become the premier facility for studying TB in the world.
Colorado, like Saranac Lake, was once a sanctuary for thousands of tuberculosis sufferers, drawn to the health-giving effects of its climate. Many of Colorado’s top hospitals began as tuberculosis sanatoriums.
“CSU was very generous,” said Orme. “Their facilities are world-class, which in turn attracted a lot of people.”
In the paper that the Journal of Immunology republished, Orme’s final article while he was working at Trudeau, he found two major series of antibodies, and “I tripped over this third response, what we now call memory T-cells. Those are the ones that you want to fatten up with vaccines.”
T-cells are part of the body’s disease-fighting mechanism; the memory T-cells “remember” how to fight diseases once they’ve been exposed to them.
Orme challenged the notion of “latent TB,” or tuberculosis cells that go dormant after entering the body.
“What I’ve shown is that these organisms are forming a biofilm around them, that protects them from the immune system response,” he said. Rather than being knocked out by the immune system, the bacterium are essentially in jail. “They’re waiting; they’re captured.”
While tuberculosis remains part of Saranac Lake’s storied past, the disease has resurged in recent decades. New strains of drug-resistant TB now comprise more than half of the world’s cases. Tuberculosis kills over a million people worldwide every year. In Sub-Saharan Africa, India and China, “It’s going through the roof,” said Orme. “We sort of hoped these drug-resistant strains would be low virulence, but they were just as virulent. Vaccines don’t work; drugs don’t work. It’s pretty depressing. It’s gone past HIV as the leading cause of death by infectious disease.”
“What worries me most is the funding environment,” said Orme. “The [presidential] administration wants to cut the [National Institutes of Health] budget by 21 percent. That’ll cut the legs off it. The number of labs that can work safely with TB is cut down. … There’s no one left to do this stuff.”
Meanwhile, Orme is pleased with the success of his students and research assistants, many of whom have gone on to become full professors around the world. He’s working on his golf game, which he characterized as “crappy,” at the Saranac Lake Golf Club in Ray Brook.
“It’s an impossible course,” he said. “I don’t know why I torture myself.”
At least, that’s his story. The Journal of Immunology honored Orme this August in its “Pillars of Immunology” series, in which it republishes articles that had major impact on how diseases are understood and treated.
“This is a tremendous honor for me, and an honor for Trudeau Institute as well,” said Orme. “They started my career; they gave me the facilities to do the work.”
However, a mere five minutes in Orme’s presence makes it clear he’s not the retiring type.
“That’s what my boss said,” Orme admits wryly. Colorado State University, where Orme helped establish a world-class TB-fighting lab, has rehired Orme with a 40 percent workload. Orme continues to write scholarly articles in his field.
“I’ve got a few articles due this month,” said Orme. “So I’m still an annoying person.”
Born near London, Orme went to university on a scholarship. Although his earliest dream was to play rugby, he ended up studying tuberculosis. After he obtained his Ph.D, Orme went on a Greyhound bus tour of America.
“They said, the place you should go is Trudeau [Institute],” said Orme. So he visited Saranac Lake, gave a talk at the institute, and “when I got home, I had three job offers. One was from Trudeau.”
He began in 1981, working with the late Frank Collins on mycobacterial infections. It was at Trudeau, he said, that he learned how to grow the highly infectious tuberculosis bacteria safely, and where he was able to open a Level 3 (infection control) unit to study the disease.
It’s also where he met his wife, Eileen, an operating room nurse at the hospital in Saranac Lake. In 1986 he was offered a job at Colorado State University, where in 1998 he co-founded CSU’s Mycobacteria Research Laboratories, which has become the premier facility for studying TB in the world.
Colorado, like Saranac Lake, was once a sanctuary for thousands of tuberculosis sufferers, drawn to the health-giving effects of its climate. Many of Colorado’s top hospitals began as tuberculosis sanatoriums.
“CSU was very generous,” said Orme. “Their facilities are world-class, which in turn attracted a lot of people.”
In the paper that the Journal of Immunology republished, Orme’s final article while he was working at Trudeau, he found two major series of antibodies, and “I tripped over this third response, what we now call memory T-cells. Those are the ones that you want to fatten up with vaccines.”
T-cells are part of the body’s disease-fighting mechanism; the memory T-cells “remember” how to fight diseases once they’ve been exposed to them.
Orme challenged the notion of “latent TB,” or tuberculosis cells that go dormant after entering the body.
“What I’ve shown is that these organisms are forming a biofilm around them, that protects them from the immune system response,” he said. Rather than being knocked out by the immune system, the bacterium are essentially in jail. “They’re waiting; they’re captured.”
While tuberculosis remains part of Saranac Lake’s storied past, the disease has resurged in recent decades. New strains of drug-resistant TB now comprise more than half of the world’s cases. Tuberculosis kills over a million people worldwide every year. In Sub-Saharan Africa, India and China, “It’s going through the roof,” said Orme. “We sort of hoped these drug-resistant strains would be low virulence, but they were just as virulent. Vaccines don’t work; drugs don’t work. It’s pretty depressing. It’s gone past HIV as the leading cause of death by infectious disease.”
“What worries me most is the funding environment,” said Orme. “The [presidential] administration wants to cut the [National Institutes of Health] budget by 21 percent. That’ll cut the legs off it. The number of labs that can work safely with TB is cut down. … There’s no one left to do this stuff.”
Meanwhile, Orme is pleased with the success of his students and research assistants, many of whom have gone on to become full professors around the world. He’s working on his golf game, which he characterized as “crappy,” at the Saranac Lake Golf Club in Ray Brook.
“It’s an impossible course,” he said. “I don’t know why I torture myself.”
Randall E. Larsen ~ In Memoriam
Architect - Research & Biosafety Engineering Specialist
1947 ~2012
Randall Larsen was a talented architect who specialized in the design of research and biocontainmant facilities, especially for higher education institutions such as Colorado State University. He was the founder of Larsen Associates, which coincidentally was based in Fort Collins, Colorado. He designed the Painter Center for Laboratory Animals on the main campus of CSU and I had the privilege, along with Ian Orme and Andrea Cooper, in working closely with Randy in the design and planning of the Bioenvironmental Hazards Facility which was a Biosafety Level 3+ laboratory and animal facility which was constructed on the Foothills Campus of CSU. This facility was the nucleus which allowed CSU to eventually secure the construction of a Federal Regional Biocontainment Facility at the Foothills Campus adjacent to the facility I had an association with as a member of the Design, Construction, and Commissioning Committee for the Bioenvironmental Hazards Facility. I am extremely honored to have worked with Randy on this and appreciate his expertise in bringing great facilities to CSU. His legacy will live on and I am glad I had the chance to work with him so many years ago - Alan Jan 2022.
Dr. Rui Appelberg ~ In Memoriam ~ Scientist and Friend
1960 ~ 2020
Updated Jan 2022
A Tribute to Rui Appelberg (SPI)It is impossible to think about Infection and Immunity in Portugal and not think about the many contributions from Rui Appelberg during his outstanding career. It is impossible to study Mycobacteria infections and not think about Rui's findings and vision. It was impossible to think of setting a meeting with Rui and not become fervent and nervous with the questions he would raise. It was impossible to discuss our projects with Rui and not to improve our research plan and experiments. It was impossible not to have a good and stimulating time with Rui. A month ago we were saddened and shocked by the sudden news that Rui Appelberg has passed away.
This is how Rui academically described himself: Rui Appelberg got his MD in 1984, his PhD in 1992, and his “Agregação” in 2002 at the Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas de Abel Salazar (ICBAS) of the University of Porto where he became Full Professor in 2003. He has been involved in the teaching of Microbiology, Immunology and Infection Biology. His research dealt with the study of Microbiology and Immunology of Infection at the IBMC where he was Group Leader until 2015. He now belongs to the staff of the Vilanova lab at the I3S. Specifically he studied the immune response, vaccines and the development of immune pathology to mycobacterial infections (Mycobacterium avium and M. tuberculosis). He has published over one hundred papers in international journals indexed by PubMed. He was the PhD advisor of 12 students and co-advisor of several others. He is presently the PhD co-supervisor of one student at the University of Minho and another from the University of Porto. He won several scientific prizes including the First Pfizer Award for three times. He acted as Associate Editor of The Journal of Immunology and belongs to the Editorial Board of Infection and Immunity. Past collaborations included researchers from France, Spain, UK, USA, Denmark, The Netherlands, Germany and Norway. But Rui was much more than a brilliant scientist: he not only mentored many PhD students, but also many young scientists, always providing honest criticisms to the experiments and data interpretations, as well as helping in any way he could without any self-interest. Rui kept us in our tips when discussing science, whilst at the same time providing an endless source of enthusiasm and motivation to excel at the highest level. Rui was also an eager cyclist, a Nature lover, a photographer and a wonderful writer (please read on more here: https://apontementos.wordpress.com/ ). Rui will be terribly missed by his many collaborators, mentees and friends. From all of us: Thank you!” |
Pillars of Immunology - The Journal of Immunology
Defining the Kinetics, Phenotype, and Function of T Cells Induced by Mycobacterium tuberculosis: Pillar of Immunity to Tuberculosis
Andrea M. Cooper
Andrea M. Cooper
"What was the genesis of this keystone article? One element was the environment the Pillars of Immunology author, Ian Orme, was working in at the Trudeau Institute in upstate New York. This was where, in the 1960s–1970s, George Mackaness developed and consolidated his theories on cell- mediated immunity, which culminated in his seminal work describing the need for the interaction between Ag- specific lymphocytes and macrophages for control of Listeria monocytogenes. Although Mackaness was not present at the Trudeau Institute during the period when the work described in the Pillars of Immunology article was conducted, his techniques and concepts were still strongly contributing to intellectual activity at the Institute, and he maintained an advisory presence, which directly influenced Orme. Another influence was Robert North, whose clear writing style provided the template for Orme’s own papers. North was also using T cell transfers in infection and tumor models, and this provided the impetus for Orme to use this technique to fully define the protective nature of T cells throughout M. tuberculosis infection. The final critical element that catalyzed Orme’s work was the availability of superb technical expertise, which allowed for the performance of animal experiments with optimal and reproducible outcomes. This expertise has persisted at the Trudeau Institute and the person acknowledged for technical assistance at the end of the Pillars of Immunology article, Alan Roberts, is employed at the Trudeau Institute today."
Note: My first experiment for Dr. Ian M. Omre - (Estimate of completion based on mouse DOB) conducted in Dec. 1982 - Jan/Feb 1983 which laid the groundwork for the "Defining the Kinetics, Phenotype, and Function of T Cells Induced by Mycobacterium tuberculosis" paper. A memorable moment when Ian took me under his wing and put me on the path for my career. He gave this document to me many years later, after I had departed his laboratory at Colorado State University. I shall always be indebted to this man who saw my potential as a researcher and mentored me and we became lifelong friends. With his passing I feel an enormous loss but a great deal of pride in that I had the privilege to work with and know this great man of science. P.S. Ian always affectionately referred to me as "Big Al" and his wife Eileen Orme continues this affectionate reference to me.
Dr. Andrea Cooper, featured as a commentator in The Forgotten Plague, is the Francis B. Trudeau Chair at Trudeau Institute, Inc. She studies the immune response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterium which causes tuberculosis. Her work is focused on identifying which cells of the immune response control TB and how these cells can be best induced by vaccination. She studied at the London School of Tropical Medicine in the UK, the National Institutes of Health in Washington DC and Colorado State University before establishing her program at Trudeau Institute.
Recently Dr. Cooper has accepted a position as Chair of the Cellular Immunology Department at the University of Leicester in the UK. I had the distinct pleasure of being a colleague and friend of Andrea at Colorado State University and the Trudeau Institute. |
The Worldwide TB Epidemic
Posted by: Andrea Cooper February 10, 2015
The move to suburban living and the development of active public health programs have reduced the burden of tuberculosis -- a serious, sometimes fatal infectious disease of the lungs -- in many affluent countries. Many of us, however, are not so lucky and are still faced with the ugly specter of TB which was so eloquently portrayed in the recent American Experience documentary, The Forgotten Plague.
Why is the “Forgotten Plague” still such a threat outside of the US and Europe? One of the principal issues is the sheer size of the problem. There are over 3 billion people who harbor the bacterium that causes TB, and while most will remain healthy, determining which of these 3 billion will develop the disease is – at the moment – not feasible. So countries with high burdens of disease are faced with making the decision of whether to treat those who are sickest, or to try and treat all of those who are infected. Of course, those who are sickest take most of the resources leaving a multitude of potential TB cases waiting to develop.
A second major issue is the length of treatment required to eliminate the bacterium that causes disease. The drugs that work against TB are not regular antibiotics; three months is required for even the minimum treatment and we all know how easy it is to stop taking antibiotics once you feel better, imagine keeping on with the treatment for 3-6 months. So compliance is an additional issue. The bacteria causing TB also develop drug resistance and so we need to take two or three drugs together. Even when the lengthy drug treatment is adhered to, drug resistance can develop, and this plunges us back into the pre-antibiotic era so harrowingly portrayed in The Forgotten Plague.
Why do we not just vaccinate against this disease? Well - we do. One of the oldest and mostly widely used vaccines in the world is a weakened version of a bacterium which is related to the bug that causes TB. This is the classical vaccine strategy which worked so well against smallpox but is only partially effective against TB. This vaccine (BCG) is still used in high burden countries as it cheaply and effectively reduces the incidence and severity of infant and childhood TB. It does not, however, appear to impact the pulmonary disease among the adolescent population, which is where TB takes its toll. The lack of an effective vaccine is the third major problem undermining the development of effective and economically viable TB control.
Currently the World Health Organization (WHO) strategy is to ensure that people are diagnosed quickly and treated effectively, and this has resulted in reduced mortality worldwide. Unfortunately (a word we use frequently in the TB field), in order to really bring the rates of TB down to acceptable levels worldwide we need several new tools. The first tool is a new “point of care” prognostic indicator to rapidly determine which of the 3 billion infected individuals is likely to proceed to active disease. This tool will allow limited resources to be focused on the few who will not only become sick, but who will also transmit disease to others. The second tool is a new suite of antibiotics which will reduce the length of drug therapy to a level manageable by individuals and by already overstretched health care systems. The final tool is an effective vaccine that works to reduce not only disease, but also infection. The development of such a vaccine would have the kind of impact on TB that the cow pox vaccine had on smallpox.
We have been working on this disease in a scientific manner for over 100 years, but we are still struggling to understand how the bacterium manipulates the human immune response to achieve its diabolical ends. The bacterium that causes TB has been co-evolving with humans for over 50,000 years and that is a lot more bacterial generations than human ones. To interfere with its progress we have to define what makes infected individuals susceptible to disease, we need to define how the bacterium works so we can interfere with its function, and we need to manipulate our immune system so that it can overcome the machinations of the bacterium. To generate these tools we need more information about the basic mechanisms as well as close interactions between basic scientists and engineers who can rapidly apply newly discovered basic mechanisms to the development of new products.
Your role in combating TB can be at the level of lobbying your government to promote successful health care infrastructure throughout the world. You could also lobby for more basic and translational research so that the successes of the past can be built upon. Above all, do not forget this plague which ravages so many of our fellows around the world, and ensure that you are part of the solution.
Why is the “Forgotten Plague” still such a threat outside of the US and Europe? One of the principal issues is the sheer size of the problem. There are over 3 billion people who harbor the bacterium that causes TB, and while most will remain healthy, determining which of these 3 billion will develop the disease is – at the moment – not feasible. So countries with high burdens of disease are faced with making the decision of whether to treat those who are sickest, or to try and treat all of those who are infected. Of course, those who are sickest take most of the resources leaving a multitude of potential TB cases waiting to develop.
A second major issue is the length of treatment required to eliminate the bacterium that causes disease. The drugs that work against TB are not regular antibiotics; three months is required for even the minimum treatment and we all know how easy it is to stop taking antibiotics once you feel better, imagine keeping on with the treatment for 3-6 months. So compliance is an additional issue. The bacteria causing TB also develop drug resistance and so we need to take two or three drugs together. Even when the lengthy drug treatment is adhered to, drug resistance can develop, and this plunges us back into the pre-antibiotic era so harrowingly portrayed in The Forgotten Plague.
Why do we not just vaccinate against this disease? Well - we do. One of the oldest and mostly widely used vaccines in the world is a weakened version of a bacterium which is related to the bug that causes TB. This is the classical vaccine strategy which worked so well against smallpox but is only partially effective against TB. This vaccine (BCG) is still used in high burden countries as it cheaply and effectively reduces the incidence and severity of infant and childhood TB. It does not, however, appear to impact the pulmonary disease among the adolescent population, which is where TB takes its toll. The lack of an effective vaccine is the third major problem undermining the development of effective and economically viable TB control.
Currently the World Health Organization (WHO) strategy is to ensure that people are diagnosed quickly and treated effectively, and this has resulted in reduced mortality worldwide. Unfortunately (a word we use frequently in the TB field), in order to really bring the rates of TB down to acceptable levels worldwide we need several new tools. The first tool is a new “point of care” prognostic indicator to rapidly determine which of the 3 billion infected individuals is likely to proceed to active disease. This tool will allow limited resources to be focused on the few who will not only become sick, but who will also transmit disease to others. The second tool is a new suite of antibiotics which will reduce the length of drug therapy to a level manageable by individuals and by already overstretched health care systems. The final tool is an effective vaccine that works to reduce not only disease, but also infection. The development of such a vaccine would have the kind of impact on TB that the cow pox vaccine had on smallpox.
We have been working on this disease in a scientific manner for over 100 years, but we are still struggling to understand how the bacterium manipulates the human immune response to achieve its diabolical ends. The bacterium that causes TB has been co-evolving with humans for over 50,000 years and that is a lot more bacterial generations than human ones. To interfere with its progress we have to define what makes infected individuals susceptible to disease, we need to define how the bacterium works so we can interfere with its function, and we need to manipulate our immune system so that it can overcome the machinations of the bacterium. To generate these tools we need more information about the basic mechanisms as well as close interactions between basic scientists and engineers who can rapidly apply newly discovered basic mechanisms to the development of new products.
Your role in combating TB can be at the level of lobbying your government to promote successful health care infrastructure throughout the world. You could also lobby for more basic and translational research so that the successes of the past can be built upon. Above all, do not forget this plague which ravages so many of our fellows around the world, and ensure that you are part of the solution.
History of the Mycobacteria Research Laboratories
at Colorado State University
The following is an excerpt from the above link on the Colorado State University MRL page in which my contribution to Dr. Ian M. Orme's laboratory is cited.
Note: CSU recently updated its History of the MRL page and more content added and my name was edited out :-( Glad I did screen capture of the original posting. I am still very proud of my contributions to CSU and its success! (Updated Jan 2022)
Note: CSU recently updated its History of the MRL page and more content added and my name was edited out :-( Glad I did screen capture of the original posting. I am still very proud of my contributions to CSU and its success! (Updated Jan 2022)
CSU tuberculosis research team is largest in U.S. with 170 contributors.
The Rocky Mountain Collegian - August 3, 2016
Due in part to Colorado State University and the state of Colorado’s unique history with the disease, CSU is currently home to the largest tuberculosis research group in the country.
The Mycobacteria Research Laboratories, CSU’s TB research team, were founded about 25 years ago by Dr. Patrick J. Brennan. Currently, 170 scientists and students are involved with MRL.
Colorado was known as the “World’s Sanatorium” in the early 1900s due to the fact that many TB patients came in groups in search of help from sunshine and clean, dry air. In 1925, the Health Committee of the City Club of Denver said that about 60 percent of Colorado’s population had originally come to the state to receive remedies for TB. Today, about 70 new cases of active TB appear in Colorado each year.
From the 1900s to the early 2000s, tuberculosis was the leading cause of death due to infectious disease in the United States. Globally, about 1.4 million people a year die from TB, and about 2 billion people may be infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, according to the World Health Organization. WHO statistics from 2016 show that over 95% of TB deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries.
TB is an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis that mainly affects the lungs. It was almost wiped out in the 1950s with the creation of antibiotics, but infections began increasing in 1985 due to HIV, which weakens a person’s immune system. It can be spread to others through tiny droplets released into the air from coughing or sneezing.
“Many patients came to the National Jewish Health hospital in Denver,” said Associate Professor Director and Mycobacteria Researcher Mary Jackson. “TB research started from this because they sent people to sanitations because they believed that exposing people to fresh air and mountains was good for them. For this reason, many people in the U.S. were sent to Colorado.”
CSU conducts basic scientific research into the bacterium that causes TB, and is devoted to finding cheap, easy and accurate ways to test for and vaccinate TB. Some of the drugs and vaccines that have been tested at CSU for TB are now in clinical trials in South Africa.
“We also test other diseases caused by the same bacteria,” Jackson said. “TB is the biggest because it’s the most deadly so we receive more money to work on it. However, even though they are considered neglected diseases, we also research leprosy and Buruli since there are increasing cases. Buruli is big in Africa and Australia.”
CSU is in collaboration with scientists in South Africa to test for biomarker characteristics in organisms that are measured for infections and disease, Jackson said.
CSU also collaborates with Brazil, Europe, China, and the Phillipines on TB and other mycobacterial disease research.
“We have an interesting research program in Brazil,” Jackson said. “We have someone from CSU spending 6 months there to do diagnostic tests on school children for leprosy.”
Along with the research, CSU also houses a program that helps to test anti-tuberculosis compounds for other laboratories around the world.
The CSU research team recently found new molecules and they are currently researching how they affect TB and other diseases. They are also studying the chromosomes of organisms infected with the bacteria.
“The chromosomes are sometimes very closely related, while others aren’t,” Jackson said. “We find matches for the chromosomes all over the world, in the UK, New Zealand, etc. What we aren’t sure of is whether it’s spreading and whether it’s pathogenic or not.”
The CSU veterinary program has in the past focused on eliminating TB from dairy cattle, since infected animals can transmit TB to people through unpasteurized and raw milk. Although the program not currently researching infected cattle, it is known that there are infected goats in the foothills with TB.
“We always do an outreach every year since World TB Day is on March 24, the day the bacteria was discovered in 1882,” Jackson said. “We organize about 80 students from high schools in Fort Collins and Greeley, and they spend about half a day here. We set up different stations for students; for example, there was one where students could see how the bacteria was spread when someone coughs. We also set up international conferences and workshops for the regular research business, mainly for professionals.”
The Mycobacteria research group receives funding from the National Institute of Health and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which brings in about $9 million for research per year.
Collegian Reporter Mackenzie Eldred can be reached at [email protected] or on twitter @KenzieEldred.
The Mycobacteria Research Laboratories, CSU’s TB research team, were founded about 25 years ago by Dr. Patrick J. Brennan. Currently, 170 scientists and students are involved with MRL.
Colorado was known as the “World’s Sanatorium” in the early 1900s due to the fact that many TB patients came in groups in search of help from sunshine and clean, dry air. In 1925, the Health Committee of the City Club of Denver said that about 60 percent of Colorado’s population had originally come to the state to receive remedies for TB. Today, about 70 new cases of active TB appear in Colorado each year.
From the 1900s to the early 2000s, tuberculosis was the leading cause of death due to infectious disease in the United States. Globally, about 1.4 million people a year die from TB, and about 2 billion people may be infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, according to the World Health Organization. WHO statistics from 2016 show that over 95% of TB deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries.
TB is an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis that mainly affects the lungs. It was almost wiped out in the 1950s with the creation of antibiotics, but infections began increasing in 1985 due to HIV, which weakens a person’s immune system. It can be spread to others through tiny droplets released into the air from coughing or sneezing.
“Many patients came to the National Jewish Health hospital in Denver,” said Associate Professor Director and Mycobacteria Researcher Mary Jackson. “TB research started from this because they sent people to sanitations because they believed that exposing people to fresh air and mountains was good for them. For this reason, many people in the U.S. were sent to Colorado.”
CSU conducts basic scientific research into the bacterium that causes TB, and is devoted to finding cheap, easy and accurate ways to test for and vaccinate TB. Some of the drugs and vaccines that have been tested at CSU for TB are now in clinical trials in South Africa.
“We also test other diseases caused by the same bacteria,” Jackson said. “TB is the biggest because it’s the most deadly so we receive more money to work on it. However, even though they are considered neglected diseases, we also research leprosy and Buruli since there are increasing cases. Buruli is big in Africa and Australia.”
CSU is in collaboration with scientists in South Africa to test for biomarker characteristics in organisms that are measured for infections and disease, Jackson said.
CSU also collaborates with Brazil, Europe, China, and the Phillipines on TB and other mycobacterial disease research.
“We have an interesting research program in Brazil,” Jackson said. “We have someone from CSU spending 6 months there to do diagnostic tests on school children for leprosy.”
Along with the research, CSU also houses a program that helps to test anti-tuberculosis compounds for other laboratories around the world.
The CSU research team recently found new molecules and they are currently researching how they affect TB and other diseases. They are also studying the chromosomes of organisms infected with the bacteria.
“The chromosomes are sometimes very closely related, while others aren’t,” Jackson said. “We find matches for the chromosomes all over the world, in the UK, New Zealand, etc. What we aren’t sure of is whether it’s spreading and whether it’s pathogenic or not.”
The CSU veterinary program has in the past focused on eliminating TB from dairy cattle, since infected animals can transmit TB to people through unpasteurized and raw milk. Although the program not currently researching infected cattle, it is known that there are infected goats in the foothills with TB.
“We always do an outreach every year since World TB Day is on March 24, the day the bacteria was discovered in 1882,” Jackson said. “We organize about 80 students from high schools in Fort Collins and Greeley, and they spend about half a day here. We set up different stations for students; for example, there was one where students could see how the bacteria was spread when someone coughs. We also set up international conferences and workshops for the regular research business, mainly for professionals.”
The Mycobacteria research group receives funding from the National Institute of Health and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which brings in about $9 million for research per year.
Collegian Reporter Mackenzie Eldred can be reached at [email protected] or on twitter @KenzieEldred.
NEW BOOK! "A Rare Romance in Medicine - The Life and Legacy of Edward Livingston Trudeau" ~ By Mary Hotaling.
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A "Good Read" on the history of the antibiotic discovery and development to treat Tuberculosis.
UK Published Version
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US Published Version
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Book Review:
Goodreads Links:
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"On Optimism"
Optimism is a mixture of faith and imagination, and from it springs the vision which leads one from the beaten paths, urges him to effort when obstacles block the way, and carries him finally to achievement, where pessimism can only see failure ahead. Optimism means energy, hardships, and achievement; pessimism means apathy, ease, and inaction. Optimism may and often does point to a road that is hard to travel, or to one that leads nowhere; but pessimism points to no road at all.
Dr. Edward Livingston Trudeau
Presidential Address to the Eighth Congress
of American Physicians and Surgeons
Washington, D.C.
May 2nd, 1910
Optimism is a mixture of faith and imagination, and from it springs the vision which leads one from the beaten paths, urges him to effort when obstacles block the way, and carries him finally to achievement, where pessimism can only see failure ahead. Optimism means energy, hardships, and achievement; pessimism means apathy, ease, and inaction. Optimism may and often does point to a road that is hard to travel, or to one that leads nowhere; but pessimism points to no road at all.
Dr. Edward Livingston Trudeau
Presidential Address to the Eighth Congress
of American Physicians and Surgeons
Washington, D.C.
May 2nd, 1910