# Impact of HIV infection on early responses to TB exposure

> **NIH NIH K23** · EMORY UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $54,000

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
 This K23 proposal outlines a 5-year career development plan and research strategy that will enable Sara
Auld, MD, MSc, to build on her background in global TB/HIV research and clinical epidemiology and gain
critical training in prospective clinical research, advanced biostatistics, and T cell and pulmonary immunology.
To achieve independence as a clinical investigator with a unique niche as a practicing pulmonologist and an
expertise in the epidemiologic and immunologic consequences of TB-HIV coinfection, Dr. Auld requires further
training in: 1) recruitment and management of prospective cohorts, specifically the conduct of clinical studies in
resource-limited international settings; 2) advanced statistics, including multilevel regression analyses capable
of adjusting for household and individual-level characteristics; and 3) translational immunology, with a focus on
T cell and pulmonary immune responses to TB exposure. Dr. Auld has outlined a plan of didactic coursework
and assembled a multidisciplinary mentorship team. Her primary mentor is Dr. Neel Gandhi, an expert in
clinical epidemiology and the conduct of global TB/HIV research. Her co-mentors are Dr. Cheryl Day, a
translational immunologist with an expertise in human T cell immunology in TB/HIV coinfection, Dr. Lance
Waller, a biomedical statistician with decades of experience in public health research, and Dr. David Guidot, a
renowned pulmonary clinician scientist with a robust research program exploring HIV-mediated lung injury and
alveolar macrophage dysfunction.
 With the support of this K23 award, Dr. Auld will address the question of how HIV infection impacts the
response to TB exposure. She will first leverage data generated by the screening protocols of the Emory/NYU
TB Research Unit (TBRU; U19 AI111211) to determine how HIV affects the acquisition of TB infection among
household contacts of TB patients in Kisumu, Kenya (Aim 1). Next, levels of pro-inflammatory, anti-
inflammatory, and regulatory cytokines generated by TB-specific T cells, and the phenotype of those cells will
be compared for household contacts with and without HIV (Aim 2). Finally, pulmonary immune responses to
TB will be compared for people with and without HIV using research bronchoscopy in a separate cohort in
Atlanta, GA (Aim 3). Knowledge gained from this study will translate into interventions to decrease the risk of
TB infection and improve long-term outcomes for people with HIV. This research responds directly to the 2016
priority areas of the NIH Office of AIDS Research, which considers HIV-associated comorbidities such as TB to
be a high priority topic. Emory University provides an exceptional intellectual and collaborative environment for
this research. By building upon her prior research experience and training, the well-established TBRU research
program in western Kenya, and methodologic training via coursework and expert mentorship, Dr. Auld is well
positioned to accomplish...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10125399
- **Project number:** 3K23AI134182-03S1
- **Recipient organization:** EMORY UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Sara Auld
- **Activity code:** K23 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $54,000
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2018-04-01 → 2023-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10125399

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10125399, Impact of HIV infection on early responses to TB exposure (3K23AI134182-03S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10125399. Licensed CC0.

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