International Research Opportunity

Location:              UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

Institution:  UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN and the GROOTE SCHUUR HOSPITAL

Principal Investigator:    Tawanda Gumbo, MD

Mentoring team:   Bongani Mayosi, MD, DPhil;  Mpiko Tsheke, MD, PhD, Tawanda Gumbo, MD

Brief Project Summary:                 In Cape Town we have several tuberculosis (TB) projects. One that offers an opportunity is a study of tuberculous pericarditis. This study has several aspects.  We are just about to start (this summer) a study that measures the concentrations of various anti-tuberculosis drugs in the plasma and in pericardial fluid. These patients have a pig-tail catheter placed after draining as part of their care. We take advantage of that by examining drug concentrations at 8 time points during 24 hours, allowing us to determine the full concentration time curves of the four standard anti-TB drugs. The exposures achieved will then be compared to those that we have determined in our lab studies at UT Southwestern to be optimal for therapeutic effect. This will allow us to design optimal doses for treatment of TB pericarditis. 

Preparatory Reading / Training to be completed in advance of departure:
Reading:

1. Iseman M.D.: A clinician’s guide to tuberculosis. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 1st Edition (2000)
2. Gumbo: Chapter 48. General Principles of Chemotherapy of Infectious Diseases                                    & Chapter 56. Chemotherapy of Tuberculosis, Mycobacterium avium Complex, Leprosy.                   Goodman & Gilman's The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics, 12th Edition, McGraw-Hill, 2011.
3. Some laboratory training at UT Southwestern in Dr. Gumbo’s lab (BSL-2 lab)

Special health concerns to be addressed in advance of departure (immunization, prophylaxis, etc):
Standard immunization.