Colorado State University, One of Top TB Research Universities, Commemorates World TB Day with Special Events

Note to Reporters: Reporters interested in attending the Monday, March 25, activities involving high school students should contact Emily Wilmsen. Short videos regarding CSU’s involvement in tuberculosis research are available at http://www.colostate.edu/tuberculosisresearch/.

Colorado State University’s internationally acclaimed tuberculosis researchers are commemorating World Tuberculosis Day (March 24) with events on March 24 and March 25. These events are designed to educate and raise awareness about tuberculosis.

Sunday, March 24
“Bacteria Wars,” 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Fort Collins Museum of Discovery, 408 Mason Court.

This event is intended for families and includes games, videos, exhibits and activities, and is geared to teach children of all ages about tuberculosis and other diseases.

Museum tickets: adults $9.50, seniors and students with ID $7, juniors ages 3 to 12 $6, children under 2 and members free.

For more information, visit http://www.fcmod.org

Monday, March 25
CSU is hosting an event for high school students to see its research laboratories in action and talk with some of the top researchers in the TB field. Speakers include CSU President Tony Frank, Mycobacteria Research Laboratories co-founder Patrick Brennan, and Mycobacteria Research Laboratories director Mary Jackson.

Following tours, students will have a chance for informal discussion with researchers and their science teachers.

To register for this event, please contact Asma Henry at Asma.Henry@colostate.edu.

CSU’s International Research Efforts

CSU is home to the Mycobacteria Research Laboratories which includes the Rocky Mountain Regional Biocontainment Laboratory, where researchers work with drug-resistant tuberculosis and other infectious diseases.

The Mycobacteria Research Laboratories hosts 30,000 square feet of laboratory space and employs 163 researchers dedicated to discovering treatments, diagnostics and vaccines to combat tuberculosis. CSU is an international leader in TB, a disease that kills 1.4 million globally every year. Scientists at CSU helped test the first new anti-tuberculosis drug approved by the Federal Drug Administration in 40 years. This discovery is imperative to fighting multi-drug resistant tuberculosis, of which there are an estimated 630,000 cases worldwide.

Vaccines tested at CSU are now in clinical trials in South Africa. The university helps test anti-tuberculosis compounds for laboratories around the world and facilitates TB research in laboratories globally through the provision of specific research materials. Between 2006 and 2009, CSU’s Mycobacteria Research Laboratories served more than 600 international labs in 44 countries.

Because of CSU’s extensive research, the team receives significant funding from the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development. The university’s tuberculosis researchers have received over $93 million in funding since 1981.

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