TB day summit in upstate New York: Key issues to address

In recognition of World TB day (March 24), tuberculosis (TB) experts from New York State and vicinity met to discuss scientific progress and how it can impact control of TB. The meeting was held in Saranac Lake where Dr. E. L. Trudeau first cultured Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) following the guidelines of Dr. Koch and also where Trudeau set up his successful TB sanitarium (Fig. 1). Many attendees were excited to visit this historical center of TB research and treatment however, they left with a profound sense of how much there remains to be done in order to bring TB under control. The majority of the meeting was in a workshop format with speakers providing a 15-min presentation of their recent work in three scientific sessions. The first session was entitled ‘‘Mycobacterium tuberculosis: a potent pathogen’’, the second was ‘‘Tuberculosis: the nature of the human disease’’ and the third was ‘‘Cellular Immunity to tuberculosis: from animal models to human disease’’. At the end of these scientific sessions, a final open discussion session was held entitled ‘‘Vaccination, Drugs and Public Health: the trifecta of tuberculosis control worldwide’’. This consisted of a focused discussion of what is required to improve vaccination, drug development and public health. The meeting was opened with a poem written by a student in 1908 in honor of Dr. E. L. Trudeau’s 60th birthday. Dr. Trudeau started the Trudeau sanitarium and research facilities in Saranac Lake 125 years ago and his legacy lives on in the Trudeau Institute where the meeting was held. Mtb: a potent pathogen In the first session, the speakers stressed the importance of understanding the basic biology of mycobacteria in order to identify new drug targets and facilitate rational drug design. Using a variety of genetic tools, the speakers highlighted how mycobacteria communicate with Figure 1. The images show: Dr. E. L. Trudeau performing research on Mtb in his ‘‘state of the art’’ laboratory (top left); Dr. E. L. Trudeau’s son examining a TB patient (top right); and a number of TB patients taking the ‘‘New Winter Cure’’ at the Trudeau Cottage Sanitarium in 1889 (bottom). The TB Summit that took place in 2009 held its social evening in the newly restored TB laboratories used by Dr. E. L. Trudeau. Images courtesy of the Trudeau Institute Archive.