Computational models move researchers closer to TB vaccine

According to a 2021 World Health Organization report, the global COVID-19 pandemic caused an increase in tuberculosis (TB) deaths – 1.5 million in 2020 versus 1.4 million in 2019 – due to a lack of efficient diagnosis and treatment. Since TB has been the number one cause of death from infectious disease in the world for centuries, University of Michigan (UM) Medical School Professor Denise Kirschner and colleagues have been working to better understand the disease by using supercomputers like Expanse at the San Diego Supercomputer Center at UC San Diego.