(l-r): Drs. Naidoo, Benson and SteynPaul Benson, M.D., Professor, Autopsy Section Head, Anatomic Pathology, attended the Third Annual International Post-Tuberculosis Symposium at the STIAS Institute in Stellenbosch, South Africa, April 14-16. Benson joined his collaborators Adrie Steyn, Ph.D., Professor, UAB Microbiology, Africa Health Institute, and Threnesan Naidoo, MBChB, MSc, LLM, Professor, Water Sisulu University, Eastern Cape, South Africa. 

The multidisciplinary symposium drew together leaders in the field of post-tuberculosis (TB) outcomes, including TB survivors, clinicians and TB program staff, researchers and stakeholders. Steyn presented much of the work he has done with Benson and Naidoo, including autopsy and surgical tissue-based research such as proteomics, spatial metalomics and histopathology of latent tuberculosis. 

“It was a unique opportunity to learn about post-tuberculosis disease,” Benson said. “Being in a low-incidence country for TB, I was not even aware that post-tuberculosis disease was such a significant problem throughout the world. Our collaboration between UAB and the Africa Health Research Institute will help to accelerate the understanding of this disease.” 

Benson, Steyn and Naidoo plan to conduct additional latent TB studies and expand collaborations around the globe. This collaboration was made possible by the Mary Heersink Institute for Global Health pilot grant that provides resources for UAB and global collaborators in their efforts to address urgent global health issues. The pilot grant, titled, “Establishing an intercontinental alliance between UAB and the Africa Health Research Institute in South Africa to accelerate research and training to help end the tuberculosis pandemic” allowed Benson and Steyn to travel to South Africa for research in 2022.