Tuberculosis: The Host-Pathogen Interface - ABSTRACT Support is requested for a Keystone Symposia conference entitled Tuberculosis: The Host-Pathogen Interface, organized by Drs. Marcel Behr, Lalita Ramakrishnan and Kevin Urdahl. The conference will be held in Keystone, Colorado from March 24-27, 2024. Each year, tuberculosis afflicts millions of people around the globe, yet many of these individuals are thought to clear their infections without manifesting disease symptoms. Therefore, understanding why only a fraction of infected individuals are susceptible to disease represents a critical gap in knowledge that affects a sizeable patient population. The Mycobacterium tuberculosis lifecycle involves entry, survival, proliferation and exit, and spans minutes to months or even years. At each step, host opportunities to thwart and eliminate infection can be overcome by bacterial countermeasures. Therefore, this Keystone Symposia conference was developed to bring together researchers who study the tuberculosis host-pathogen interface, at the scale of molecules, individual cells and the cellular aggregates, or granulomas, which are the hallmark structures of tuberculosis. This program will include sessions that will cover research on nontuberculous mycobacteria and other pathogens with similar “lifestyle” aspects to M. tuberculosis and will include studies on host processes in other contexts in order for participants to achieve a more complete understanding of tuberculosis and related pathogens. Finally, the program will feature emerging tools and methodologies for interrogating the tuberculosis host-pathogen interface. It is anticipated that this “holistic” approach will enhance understanding of basic infection biology to inform new strategies for global elimination of this age-old pathogen.
