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Research and Clinical Trials
Article: The Importance of Clinical Trials and Research: Hope for the Future
Steven Holland, M.D.
National Institutes of Health
Research Currently Being Performed, Funded by NTM Info & Research
Home Water Supply/Sputum Comparison Study
Please note - the study is not accepting new patients/water samples.
NTMir has awarded a Rapid Information Pilot Study (RIPS)™ grant to Dr. Joseph Falkinham, III, at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia to study household water systems as a source of pulmonary NTM infection. This project will be initiated and completed during 2008, providing important information regarding the risk factors associated with household water and NTM lung infection. This study is the first in a series designed to better understand both environmental and host factors of human infection with NTM. Dr. Falkinham will compare the NTM bacteria found in patients' lungs with the NTM bacteria in each patient's home to determine if they are the same strain.
Epidemiology Study
NTMir has awarded a RIPS™ grant jointly to National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) and Kaiser Permanente of Southern California (Kaiser), a private healthcare provider, to study the prevalence, prevalence trends, and co-morbidities of pulmonary NTM disease. This study represents an opportunity to evaluate the prevalence of NTM within a closed healthcare system and a unique partnership between a federal government agency (NIAID), a private healthcare system (Kaiser), and a disease-centered not-for-profit organization (NTMir).
The Complete Genome Sequence of Mycobacterium avium intracellulare
NTMir has awarded its first international RIPS™ grant to Dr. Marcel Behr at Research Institute of the McGill University Health Center in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Dr. Behr will complete the type genome sequence of M. avium intracellulare, which will aid in determining better treatments for the infection.
Research Currently Being Performed at Other Institutions
The Impact of Antigen-Specific T Cells on the Immunopathologic Consequences
in M. avium-Induced Lung Disease
This study led by Dr. Andrea Cooper at the Trudeau Institute is funded by a three year American Lung Association/DeSouza Research Grant (2008-2011). The Trudeau Institute, located in state of New York, is dedicated to medical research.
In order to treat M. avium-induced lung disease we need to understand the role of the immune response in mediating the inflammatory elements of the disease. We need to monitor the development of disease over time and manipulate the experimental conditions to prove causal connections between observed cellular responses and disease outcome. These types of experiments cannot be performed in humans. We are doing this work now as we have new data regarding the role of the immune system in the inflammatory response to mycobacterial infection in the lung. We will use “state of the art” immunological techniques to examine the immune cell response occurring following aerosol infection with M. avium and determine whether modulation of these functions alters disease development. This work is important, as drugs that can specifically modulate the immune response have been and are being developed. Our data will highlight potential mechanisms that can be examined in targeted human studies and thereby identify therapeutic interventions.
Completed Research
The Genome Sequence of Mycobacterium abscessus
French researchers have completed the genome sequnce of M. abscessus as of early 2008. More information will be available in the next few months.
Updated April 22, 2008
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