World TB Day

Prof. Gao is a professor at the Institute of Pathogen Biology at the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College. He is an epidemiologist researching the pathogenesis and intervention of major infectious diseases. In recent years, his team primarily worked on developing latent tuberculosis infection preventive intervention tools and strategies suitable to Chinese conditions.

Deb Burdsall has worked in long-term care since 1974. After more than 40 years with a major skilled nursing provider in Illinois, Burdsall now manages Baldwin Hill Solutions, offering infection prevention solutions to other long-term care operators. Burdsall has most recently been working with Hektoen Institute and The Illinois Department of Public Health on congregate care in Illinois. She works to find evidence-based, cost-effective infection prevention strategies.

MSc, MPH-IH, (Medical Affairs, QIAGEN; honorary TB lab expert, Emerging Bacterial Pathogen Unit, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan)

Prof. Byungwook is a professor at the Nowon Eulji Medical Center in Korea. Eun is an expert in pediatric infectious and respiratory diseases. He conducts various studies related to latent TB infection in children as an Insurance Affairs Director of the Korean Society of Pediatric Infectious Disease and a member of the Korean Pediatrics Association.

Dr. Konstantynovska is Associate Professor (Infectious Diseases and Clinical Immunology) at V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University in Ukraine. She is also a TB physician and PhD, and is the author of more than 50 scientific works, including articles, abstracts, textbooks and patents.

Dr. Galloway is Reader in Rheumatology and Deputy Head of the Centre for Rheumatic Disease, King's College, London. His research group works in the areas of pharmacovigilance, health outcomes and quality improvement in the field of rheumatology. He has been instrumental in developing the latest EULAR recommendations for the screening and prophylaxis of chronic and opportunistic infections in adults with autoimmune inflammatory rheumatic diseases.

Matt is the Founder of Campaigns in Global Health, a UK-based organization dedicated to identifying effective ways to engage with policymakers and sharing that expertise as widely as possible. Through that, he leads Ending Workplace TB (EWTB), a coalition of fifty multinational companies dedicated to improving TB care and prevention in their workplaces, communities and supply chains.

Dr. Matsumoto is the Vice President of the Osaka Tuberculosis Prevention Association at the Fukujyuji Hospital in Japan. His research focuses on the areas of anti-TNF therapy for rheumatoid arthritis in patients with active tuberculosis, genome-wide analysis of multi- and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis and leucine-rich alpha 2 glycoprotein as a new marker for the active disease of tuberculosis.

Negaya is the CEO of Results International, Australia, a global health advocacy organization and a Board member of both the Pacific Friends of Global Health and Habitat for Humanity, Australia. She has led a number of organizations spanning refugees, youth development and women’s rights, in addition to leading UNICEF Australia and Caritas Australia’s advocacy work.

Marc Destito, based in Geneva, Switzerland, joined QIAGEN as Vice President and Head of Global Health in July 2021, focusing on infectious diseases, TB and women's health. Previously, he helped lead the global TB program for Otsuka Pharmaceutical, focused on drug development for MDR-TB. He holds an advanced degree in Global Health Policy from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and in International Politics from Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service.

Prof. Sotgiu is the dean of the faculty of medicine at the University of Sassari, Italy and is honorary professor at the Queen Mary University of London, UK. He has a medical degree, two specializations in infectious diseases and in medical statistics, a PhD in “methodology of clinical trials and an executive master in management of health and social care organizations. He is fellow of the European Respiratory Society.

Dr. Cameron has a clinical interest in preventing and managing pediatric TB and Non-Tuberculous Mycobacterial (NTM) infections. Her most substantial research contribution was to implement a TB education, screening, evaluation and treatment program in two HISD high schools. She is part of a multidisciplinary team that collectively manages patients with NTM.

Prof. Kon is a respiratory physician and head of the tuberculosis service at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. He is a professor of respiratory medicine at the National Heart & Lung Institute, Imperial College London. He is chair of the UK National Multidrug-resistant Tuberculosis (MDRTB) clinical advice service. He is a National Tuberculosis Oversight Group member and chairs the Joint Tuberculosis Committee.

Dr. Kawamura has been a TB clinician for more than 30 years and served as San Francisco’s TB Controller from 1996 to the end of 2011. Under her leadership to promote public health innovation, San Francisco became the first jurisdiction in the US to implement IGRA blood testing for TB in 2003 as part of routine screening practice and contact investigation. She remains an active domestic and international advocate, educator and speaker on TB and has coauthored and reviewed numerous TB publications.

Parth is a Medical Science Liaison supporting the Immune Response franchise in North America for QIAGEN, particularly QFT-Plus. Parth is a board-certified Physician Associate with a terminal Doctor of Medical Science degree. Prior to joining QIAGEN, he specialized in the field of medical dermatology and routinely screened patients for LTBI prior to the initiation of immunosuppressive therapy.

Dr. Restrepo received her Ph.D. from the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, Texas. She is currently an Associate Professor at UT Health Houston, Brownsville campus, located adjacent to the Mexican border. Here, she has set up a unique TB field and immunology research program in collaboration with Mexican colleagues. Her studies pioneered the discovery of the re-emerging importance of Type 2 diabetes as a risk factor for TB.

For the past decade, Luan has been working in TB and HIV as chairman of Friends for International TB Relief in Hanoi and finance director of a Delhi-based TB NGO, Operation ASHA. Luan has worked closely with the Vietnam National TB Control Program, supporting the implementation and evidence generation in technical areas such as active case finding, private sector engagement, social protection and prevention. He is also a board member of the International Union Against TB and Lung Disease and is consultant to the Stop TB Partnership and UKRI Innovate UK for guideline development and proposal review.

Dr. Thanassi is Board Certified in Emergency Medicine. She currently runs the Veterans’ Health Administration’s Occupational Health Service in Palo Alto, California. Over the past 10 years, she championed the use of IGRAs for TB screening in healthcare workers. She is also a Clinical Associate Professor affiliate at Stanford Hospital and Medical Clinics.

Dr. Burhan works at the Persahabatan Central General Hospital in East Jakarta, Indonesia. She chairs the PP PDPI Infection Working Group and is head of the Friendship Hospital's COVID19 treatment team. In recent years, she has additionally worked as a member of the COVID19 Task Force Medical Specialist.

Dr. Nikolayevskyy is a clinical microbiologist and molecular biologist with more than 20 years of experience in TB/HIV-related research, laboratory diagnosis, epidemiology and development and implementation projects in infectious diseases. He gained his BSc and Ph.D. qualifications in Ukraine before relocating to the UK and joining one of the leading research groups at Blizard Institute of Cell and Molecular Science, Queen Mary, the University of London. He works at QIAGEN and maintains strong links with academia, holding an Honorary Senior Research Fellow position with Imperial College, London, UK.