Co-Directors

Karen R. Jacobson MD, MPH, Associate Professor of Medicine (karen.jacobson at bmc.org), Charles R. Horsburgh MD, MS, Professor of Global Health (rhorsbu at bu.edu), Laura White, PhD, Professor of Biostatistics (lfwhite at bu.edu)

Synopsis

Tuberculosis (TB) remains the leading infectious disease killer globally, with an estimated 1.5 million deaths and 10 million new infections annually. In 2020, case notifications plummeted because of the COVID-19 pandemic related disruptions of services, with subsequently the first rise in TB mortality in more than a decade. We are falling gravely short of the WHO’s End TB Strategy1 goal of reducing TB incidence by 80%, TB deaths by 90% and eliminating catastrophic costs for TB-affected households by 2030. The challenges encountered in decreasing the global TB burden have highlighted the modifying effect of co-morbidities on TB transmission, acquisition, disease progression, and response to therapy. It is now clear that progress towards TB elimination will require focused attention on addressing comorbidities, improving diagnostics and biomarkers of treatment response, and awareness of post-TB sequelae, from understanding biology through potential intervention impacts. The Boston University Tuberculosis Interdisciplinary Approach to Research Alliance (TIARA) Affinity Research Collaborative (ARC) has as its mission the identification and promotion of a cohort of diverse TB clinical and translational research and researchers at Boston University who will accelerate ending the TB epidemic through innovative, interdisciplinary, and creative approaches. Our ARC builds on existing TB core faculty with strong research portfolios, but as of recently with minimal coordinated efforts to advance as a consortium interdisciplinary approaches to this research topic. The newly proposed ARC consists of 25 researchers spanning Boston Medical Center, Chobanian & Avedisian BU School of Medicine, Sargent College, National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories, and BU School of Public Health. We are devoted to the pursuit of translational research to reduce the burden of TB worldwide, with special focus on key populations including persons who use alcohol and/or illicit drugs, persons with malnutrition and diabetes, children/adolescents, and persons with drug resistant TB; all reflective of cases in our BMC patient populations.

Members

Name Institution Department Title
Carlos Acuna-Villaorduna BU Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine Department of Medicine Adjunct Assistant Professor
Akshay Gupte BU School of Public Health Department of Global Health Assistant Professor
Alana Brennan BU School of Public Health Department of Global Health Assistant Professor
Leo Martinez BU School of Public Health Department of Epidemiology Assistant Professor
Meredith Brooks BU School of Public Health Department of Global Health Assistant Professor
Vishakha Sabharwal Boston Medical Center/BU Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine Section of Infectious Disease, Department of Pediatrics Assistant Professor
Karston Lunze BU Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine Clinical Addiction Research & Education (CARE) Unit, Department of Medicine Assistant Professor of Medicine
Jeffrey Campbell Boston Medical Center/BU Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine Department of Pediatrics, Section of Infectious Disease Assistant Professor, Physician
Pranay Sinha Boston Medical Center/BU Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine Department of Medicine, Section of Infectious Disease Assistant Professor, Physician
Evan Johnson BU School of Public Health/BU Chobanian &Avedisian School of Medicine Department of Biostatistics, Department of Medicine Associate Professor
Helen Jenkins BU School of Public Health Department of Biostatistics Associate Professor
Jacob Bor BU School of Public Health Department of Global Health, Department of Epidemiology Associate Professor
Igor Kramnik BU Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine/National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories Department of Medicine, Department of Microbiology, Aerobiology Core Associate Professor, Director and Investigator
Karen Jacobson Boston Medical Center/BU Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine/BU School of Public Health Section of Infectious Dsease, Department of Medicine, Department of Epidemiology, Tuberculosis Clinic Associate Professor, Physician, Medical Director
Tara Bouton Boston Medical Center/BU Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine Section of Infectious Disease, Department of Medicine Physician, Assistant Professor
Charles R Horsburgh Jr BU School of Public Health/Boston Medical Center/BU Chobanian &Avedisian School of Medicine Department of Epidemiology, Department of Biostatistics, Section of Infectious Disease, Department of Medicine Professor
Laura F White BU School of Public Health Department of Biostatistics Professor
John Bernardo BU Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine/Massachusetts Department of Public Health Department of Medicine, Department of Pulmonary, Allergy, Sleep & Critical Care Medicine Professor,  Physician, Tuberculosis Medical Officer
Kaku So-Armah BU Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine Clinical Addiction Research & Education (CARE) Unit, Department of Medicine Research Assistant Professor
Sydney Rosen BU School of Public Health Department of Global Health Research Professor
Kayoko Shioda BU School of Public Health Department of Global Health Assistant Professor
Allison Portnoy BU School of Public Health Department of Global Health Assistant Professor
Lindsey Locks BU College of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences Sargent College Assistant Professor
Prasad Patil BU School of Public Health Department of Biostatistics Assistant Professor
Tyler Brown Boston Medical Center/BU Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine Department of Medicine, Section of Infectious Disease Assistant Professor, Physician
David Holtzman Boston Medical Center/BU Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine Department of Medicine, Section of Infectious Disease Assistant Professor, Physician
Name Title Institution Department Area of Expertise Email/Phone
Aaron Dobie Fellow Boston Medical Center Pulmonary, Allergy, Sleep & Critical Care Medicine Aaron.Dobie at bmc.org
Alyse Wheelock Fellow Boston Medical Center Infectious Disease refugee health, Chagas disease alyse.wheelock at bmc.org
Andrew Henderson Professor Boston Medical Center Microbiology cellular mechanisms that regulate HIV replication and transcription Andrew.Henderson at bmc.org
Chelsie Cintron Senior Research Study Coordinator Boston Medical Center Infectious Disease TB and nutrition Chelsie.Cintron at bmc.org
Daniel Bourque Assistant Professor Boston Medical Center Infectious Disease Chagas disease, health equity daniel.bourque at bmc.org
Jill Black Senior Major Gifts Officer Boston Medical Center Development Development jillian.black at bmc.org
Katherine Reifler Fellow Boston Medical Center Infectious Disease COVID-19 katherine.reifler at bmc.org
Katrina Traber Assistant Professor Boston Medical Center Hematology pneumonia Katrina.Traber at bmc.org
Kaylyn Bruciati Program Coordinator Boston Medical Center Infectious Disease Kaylyn.Bruciati at bmc.org
Madolyn Dauphinais Research Coordinator Boston Medical Center Infectious Disease tuberculosis, Chagas disease Madolyn.Dauphinais at bmc.org
Manish Sagar Professor Boston Medical Center Infectious Disease HIV Manish.Sagar at bmc.org
Natalia Gnatienko Senior Research Manager Boston Medical Center General Internal Medicine HIV, substance use Natalia.Gnatienko at bmc.org
Rhiannon Chubb Fellow Boston Medical Center Infectious Disease HIV, complications of injection drug use rhiannon.chubb at bmc.org
Sally Bendiks Research Project Manager Boston Medical Center General Internal Medicine HIV, substance use Sally.Bendiks at bmc.org
Sarah Rossi Research Project Manager Boston Medical Center Clinical Addiction Research & Education Unit HIV and substance use Sarah.Rossi at bmc.org
Sarah Weber Project Specialist Boston Medical Center Infectious Disease TB and substance use, COVID-19 Sarah.Weber at bmc.org
Selvin Marroquin Research Study Coordinator Boston Medical Center Infectious Disease TB and substance use, COVID-19 Selvin.Marroquin at bmc.org
Suchitra Kulkarni Program Manager Boston Medical Center Infectious Disease TB and substance use, COVID-19 suchitra.kulkarni at bmc.org
Anne Shapiro Doctoral Student Boston University Biostatistics infectious disease modeling anshap at bu.edu
Abdou Fofana Postdoctoral Research Associate Boston University School of Public Health afofana at bu.edu
Prasanna Babu Araveti Boston University aravetip at bu.edu
Arthur VanValkenburg Postdoctoral Research Associate Boston University Computational Biomedicine arthur.vanvalkenburg at gmail.com
Yazdani Shaik Dasthagirisaheb Laboratory Supervisor III Boston University Pediatrics bacterial biofilms and pathogenesis, anaerobic bacteria, pro bacteria, gene discovery, immune response bashasy at bu.edu
Ben Rader PhD Candidate Boston University Epidemiology computational epidemiology brader at bu.edu
Elizabeth Barnett Professor Boston University Pediatrics immigrant health, immunization ebarnett at bu.edu
Eliza Passell Graduate Student Intern/MPH Candidate Boston University Infectious Disease/Epidemiology TB and substance use epassell at bu.edu
John Weinstein Assistant Professor Boston University General Internal Medicine environmental toxins and pregnancy jrweinst at bu.edu
Nankya Ethel PhD Candidate Boston University Computational Biomedicine etnankya at bu.edu
Pawandeep Kaur Clinical Trial Director Boston University Global Health kaurp at bu.edu
Tenglong Li Postdoctoral Fellow Boston University Biostatistics litenglo at bu.edu
Lindsey Furton Statistical Programmer Boston University Biostatistics and Epidemiology Data Analytics Center lefurton at bu.edu
Lora Sabin Associate Professor Boston University HIV, TB, malaria, health economics lsabin at bu.edu
Dominick Leone Graduate Research Fellow Boston University Epidemiology nleone at bu.edu
Ronald Corley Professor Boston University Microbiology relationship between innate and adaptive immunity rbcorley at bu.edu
Suryaram Gummuluru Professor Boston University Microbiology role of dendritic cells in HIV replication rgummulu at bu.edu
Samantha Malatesta PhD Candidate/Data Analyst Boston University Biostatistics/Infectious Disease TB and substance use, COVID-19 samalate at bu.edu
Sarah Brumfield MPH Student Boston University Epidemiology sarahdb at bu.edu
Shivraj Yabaji Postdoctoral Research Fellow Boston University National Emerging Infectious Disease Laboratory smyabaji at bu.edu
Sara Lodi Associate Professor Boston University Biostatistics HIV, TB, hepatitis C, causal inference methods slodi at bu.edu
Victoria Overbeck Graduate Student Intern/MPH Candidate Boston University Infectious Disease/Epidemiology TB and substance use voverbec at bu.edu
Lawrence Were Assistant Professor Boston University Sargent College Department of Health Science health economics, HIV werelpo at bu.edu
Kristina Yamkovoy PhD Candidate Boston University Biostatistics yamkovoy at bu.edu
Zhang Yangjia Postdoctoral Associate Boston University Biostatistics yzhang17 at bu.edu