Multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB), defined as resistance to at least isoniazid and rifampin, and extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB), defined as MDR-TB strains that are also resistant to fluoroquinolones and second-line injectable agents, are a growing concern. 

Researchers at Vanderbilt, with collaborators in Tennessee as well as Cape Town and Durban, South Africa, study resistance to TB drugs, with a particular focus on the fluoroquinolones. These agents are widely used to treat other bacterial infections, which can increase the risk of drug resistance in TB, and also affect the diagnosis and treatment of TB.

Active Projects

  • Poor Treatment Response and Outcomes in Bedaquiline-Based Treatment Regimens for Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis in South Africa; PI – Yuri van der Heijden; NIH R01AI158605
  • Fluoroquinolones and Efflux-Mediated Cross Resistance in HIV-related TB; Nashville, TN; PI – Timothy Sterling
  • Mechanistic Studies of Gyrase/Topoisomerase IV-Targeted Antibacterials (R01); Nashville, TN; PI – Neil Osheroff; NIH R01AI170546
  • Mechanistic Studies of Type II Topoisomerases and Topoisomerase-Targeted Agents (R01); Nashville, TN; PI – Neil Osheroff; NIH R01GM126363

Completed Projects

  • Drug-resistant Tuberculosis in Gauteng Province, South Africa: Understanding Facilitators and Barriers to Successful Patient Treatment; PI – Yuri van der Heijden; VUMC ID Fund
  • Transmission of drug-resistant tuberculosis in a South African city with a high prevalence of HIV infection (K08); South Africa; PI – Rebecca Berhanu; NIH K08AI150352
  • Predictors of Resistance Emergence Evaluation in MDR-TB Patients on Treatment (PRE-EMPT); India and Brazil; PIs – Robert Horsburgh (BU), Timothy Sterling; NIH R01AI134430
  • Fluoroquinolone resistance in patients with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis; South Africa; PI – Yuri van der Heijden; NIH K08AI106420
  • Mechanisms of Quinolone Resistance; Nashville, TN; PI – Neil Osheroff; VA Grant
  • Mechanisms of antibiotic resistance development in bacterial pathogens; Nashville, TN; PI - Houra Merrikh; NIH R01AI127422