FIND signs partnership agreement with McGill on TB diagnostics

The strategic partnership will focus on work to support the critical evaluation of FIND’s work in TB diagnostics, the exploration of models to better engage the private health sector in TB diagnosis in low- and middle-income countries, and evidence to inform policy review related to new TB tests.

“Partnerships are critical to all aspects of the work we do,” said Bill Rodriguez, FIND’s Chief Medical Officer. “While we have worked with McGill for many years, this MOU formalizes the partnership and increases the impact we can have by working together to accelerate access to affordable and accurate TB diagnosis, particularly in countries with the highest TB burden.”

Tuberculosis is the world’s deadliest infectious disease, surpassing HIV/AIDS in mortality and causing an estimated 1.5 million deaths each year. It is a treatable disease, but more than 3.6 million people with TB remain undiagnosed, misdiagnosed or not linked to TB treatment. Given that one person with untreated TB can infect up to 10 people per year and there are some 9.6 million new cases of TB annually, there is an urgent need to close the gap on TB case detection.

“Global TB control depends on timely and accurate diagnosis,” said Dr Madhukar Pai, Canada Research Chair in Epidemiology & Global Health, Director of McGill Global Health Programs and Associate Director of the McGill International TB Centre. “There is an urgent need for new TB tests, better access to existing tests and evidence to support both. McGill is pleased to support FIND in its mission to turn complex diagnostic challenges into simple solutions to overcome diseases of poverty such as TB.”

Work under the MOU is already underway, as FIND and RI-MUHC are working on a systematic review of the TB biomarker landscape to identify the most promising candidates and accelerate the development of an urgently needed rapid, non-sputum based test to detect TB in primary health clinics and even lower levels of the healthcare system. In addition, the two organizations are partnering on work to improve the use of chest radiography as a diagnostic tool in high-burden countries, and on the analysis of several studies conducted by FIND. FIND also partners with McGill to offer several training courses at the McGill Summer Institute in Infectious Diseases & Global Health (see link to the right).

About the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre

The Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) is a world-renowned biomedical and hospital research centre. Located in Montreal, Quebec, the Institute is the research arm of the McGill University Health Centre affiliated with the Faculty of Medicine at McGill University. In 1999, five McGill teaching hospitals (the Montreal General (MGH est. 1819), the Royal Victoria (RVH est. 1893), the Montreal Children's (MCH est. 1904), the Montreal Chest Institute (MCI est. 1903) and the Montreal Neurological Hospital/Institute (MNH/I est. 1934) merged to form the MUHC. The RI-MUHC, created from the five hospital research institutes, became the clinical and translational research hub of the MUHC. The RI is a powerhouse, with 600 investigators and over 1,200 students and fellows studying a wide range of health issues that affect mankind through fundamental, clinical and evaluative research. The McGill International TB Centre is a world leader in the interdisciplinary study of TB (https://www.mcgill.ca/tb/). The Centre brings together over 20 investigators with expertise ranging from economics to mouse models. The Centre includes researchers working on biomedical, clinical, epidemiologic and social determinants of TB. To learn more about RI MUHC, visit https://muhc.ca/research/dashboard.

About FIND

FIND was established in 2003 as a global non-profit dedicated to accelerating the development, evaluation and use of high-quality, affordable diagnostic tests for poverty-related diseases, including tuberculosis, malaria, HIV/AIDS, Ebola, sleeping sickness, hepatitis C, leishmaniasis, Chagas disease and Buruli ulcer. Over the last decade, FIND has partnered in the delivery of 11 new diagnostic tools, including six for tuberculosis, and created an enabling environment for countless more through the provision of specimen banks, reagent development and better market visibility. FIND also supports better access to new diagnostics through implementation, quality assurance and lab strengthening work. FIND has over 100 partners globally, including research institutes and laboratories, ministries of health and national disease control programmes, commercial partners, bilateral and multilateral organizations, especially WHO, and clinical trial sites.

Source: FIND