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CMBI's Dr Brian Robertson will collaborate with researchers from MIT and University of Cape Town to investigate how tuberculosis is transmitted.

51³Ô¹ÏÍø and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have announced the winners of the first Africa-focused seed fund.

The funded projects will bring scientists together from 51³Ô¹ÏÍø, MIT and partner institutions­­ in Africa, to work on infectious disease, high energy physics and eco-friendly refrigerants.

The MIT - Africa - 51³Ô¹ÏÍø Seed Fund promotes early-stage collaboration between faculty and researchers at MIT, 51³Ô¹ÏÍø and institutions in Africa.

Fluorescence detection of tuberculosis transmission (University of Cape Town)

Principal Investigators: , 51³Ô¹ÏÍø, Professor Laura Kiessling, MIT, Professor Digby Warner, University of Cape Town.

The “fluorTB” consortium comprising researchers from MIT, 51³Ô¹ÏÍø and the University of Cape Town (UCT) in South Africa will investigate how tuberculosis (TB) is transmitted. South Africa has a high incidence of TB and researchers at UCT have developed personal clean room technology to investigate when TB is transmitted – for example, whether it spreads through actions such as talking as well as coughing – and how quickly anti-TB therapy prevents the release of infectious aerosols. The MIT - Africa - 51³Ô¹ÏÍø Seed funding will allow researchers at MIT and 51³Ô¹ÏÍø to explore the use of advanced fluorescence labelling – causing live bacteria to glow in a manner that will increase their visibility under a microscope. The research could help restrict the spread of TB in the future by helping doctors to determine which patients are most infectious.

UCT’s Professor Digby Warner said: “This collaboration is very exciting as it offers the potential to speed up detection of viable TB aerosols, thereby increasing the efficacy of therapeutic interventions which can be targeted to infectious individuals in real-time.”