A New Weapon in the Fight against HIV/TB Co-Infection

New results from a tuberculosis vaccine trial indicate that the Mycobacterium vaccae (MV) was effective in preventing TB among people with HIV. Given that TB is the No. 1 killer of people with HIV in the developing world, this could be a major advance in the battle against these synergistic scourges.

In the seven-year study in Tanzania, researchers with Dartmouth University and other partner institutions found that immunization with MV reduced the rate of TB by 39 percent. Now, they said, the focus needs to turn to manufacturing larger amounts of the vaccine for additional studies and possible clinical use.

Click here to read the Dartmouth press release and here to read a news story about the trial findings.

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Global Health Studies Get Stimulus Money

The economic stimulus bill is paying more public health dividends—allowing universities to seize on student interest in global health programs. Four universities have qualified for new funding, made available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, from the National Institutes of Health to bolster global health programs.

Dartmouth College, for example, won money to help fund three faculty positions dedicated to the international health curriculum. The funds will help the school develop new courses leading to a certificate in international health for undergraduates that will also be available to medical and graduate students, according to an NIH news release.

At the University of California, Irvine, the NIH grant will pay for two summer fellowships for undergraduate students and three summer fellowships for graduate students, among other things. The money will help UC Irvine develop new courses and establish a global health concentration in the master of public health program.

Click here to read the NIH’s full release, or here to learn more about the underlying NIH grant program.

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