McGill International TB Centre receives $17.2 M for clinical trials and clinical research on tuberculosis

Following a joint application by the CAB-V (Canada, Australia, Benin & Vietnam) network, an established international research group, $13.5 million USD (17.2 million CAD $) has been awarded to Dr. Dick Menzies (PI) of the McGill International TB Centre at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) to participate in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Tuberculosis Trials Consortium (TBTC).

This award will support clinical trials and clinical research on the treatment, diagnosis and prevention of tuberculosis (TB) for the next ten years (2021 -2031). The first study, which will start soon, will compare a six-week daily course of rifapentine to three months of isoniazid (INH) and rifapentine or four months of Rifampin for treatment of latent TB infection (TB prevention). Studies of shorter, safer and more effective treatment of active TB disease are in the planning stages.

Dr. Dick Menzies, director of the McGill International TB Centre and Canada Research Chair in TB Research (Tier 1), is leading the CAB-V network. The RI-MUHC research team is also composed of Chantal Valiquette, Lisandra Lannes and Stéphanie Sénécal, with MUHC co-investigators Marcel Behr, Faiz Ahmad Khan, Kevin Schwartzman and David Zielinski.

Other sites and investigators in Canada: Sarah Brode (Toronto), Dina Fisher, Leila Barss, Rachel Lim (Calgary), James Johnston, Victoria Cook (Vancouver), and Richard Long (Edmonton).

International co-investigators include: from Australia, Greg Fox; from Vietnam, Binh Hoa Nguyen and Thu Anh Nguyen; from Benin, Menonli Adjobimey and Dissou Affolabi.

Congratulations to all!