ENDxTB Annual Meeting – November 15-16, 2021

A year into the project, the ENDxTB consortium came together virtually for its first Annual Meeting on November 15-16. The meeting was held jointly with our sister project, the EDCTP-funded TriageTB initiative.  

Together, the two projects form one global study with the aim of advancing research into cost-effective, novel, and improved diagnostic strategies for tuberculosis (TB). The setup allows for collaboration across multiple clinical sites in Africa (South Africa, The Gambia, Uganda) and Southeast Asia (Vietnam) and laboratories in the US and Europe.

During the meeting, the ENDxTB consortium discussed progress made over the past year. It was apparent that the group has managed to successfully advance the project, despite the significant challenges posed by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. This fall, the first patients were enrolled in both the household contacts and paediatric studies. Vietnam also started recruiting for the adult cohort, joining the sites in South Africa, The Gambia, and Uganda who have been recruiting for this arm since 2020 as part of TriageTB.  

Tremendous effort was put into harmonization of protocols across sites, and clinical partners were able to pick up enrolment quickly and efficiently after national lockdowns.

The meeting also included a session of the Scientific Advisory Board. Its members participated actively in the discussions and provided valuable feedback on the status of the project, including a concise SWOT analysis and targeted recommendations. Capacity development was also spotlighted at the meeting, with an interactive assessment of the ongoing capacity development activities, in particular as part of the TriageTB project, and a joint brainstorming for ways to improve the support system, especially in the light of a continued lack of face-to-face meetings.

For the upcoming months, the consortium feels confident that it can continue to move the clinical work forward and produce valuable results.